User reviews

I'd call this note of mine a spoiler if it weren't that the Storyline on IMDB already gives the point away. Throughout the beginning of the movie, it's a little hard to understand what the underlying attitude is supposed to be. There are gaudy colors and there are song-and-dance numbers, but they seem to be presented archly. There's the fear that beset Israel before the Six Day War, but we know that things weren't going to turn out that bad. There's the euphoria after the Six Day War, but we know that things weren't going to turn out that good. And there are two couples presented as main characters, but-- it may be entirely my fault, but I'm inclined to blame the casting at least a little-- it took me a long time to realize who was who. Chugging across this canvas is, as the IMDB Storyline tells us, a "Star Is Born" story. It features mild caricatures of some 1960s theatrical figures who are well remembered in Israel at least by the oldsters. But eventually we realize that the movie's serious focus is not on the star-in-the-making but on her husband, who is a victim of war trauma, and all the archness of the presentation (which even includes an arch depiction of Hanoch Levin, himself the king of archness back in those days) is a way of saying "Who cares? Who cares about all this, when your war memories are ruining your sleep?"

Some of the music dates back to the period depicted, but the lion's share is original music in a retro style and it's not bad. I attended a preview where an audience member asked if the music would be coming out on Spotify and the answer is yes. But after watching the movie through to its sobering end, I find it difficult to imagine listening to the music for pleasure.