Melting Away

"Namess Ba'geshem," directed by Doron Eran, is an Israeli movie shown in the U.S. as "Melting Away" (2012). The movie dramatizes the rejection and stigmatization of transsexuals, and the obstacles they face in simply trying to lead a normal existence.

Assaf is a transsexual teenager, whose parents discover his secret, and literally lock him out of his home. Assaf's father Schlomo (Ami Weinberg) is the perpetrator of this horrific act, but his mother Gayla (Limor Goldstein) is passively complicit.

Several years pass and Schlomo is diagnosed as having terminal cancer. Gayla hires a private detective to find Assaf, who has disappeared from their lives. The detective finds Assaf, but now she is the beautiful nightclub singer Anna. The plot revolves around the attempts at reconciliation among father, mother, and child as Schlomo's cancer progresses. (There's a secondary plot involving two of Anna's gay friends, and the attempt of one of them to inform his mother that he and his friend are a gay couple.)

The acting in this movie is excellent, although when Anna is on the screen, it's hard to notice anyone else. The actor portraying Anna is the extremely beautiful international model Hen Yanni. She has the strong features that characterize many models, so it's believable that Anna started life as a man.

However, the film might have been more interesting if director Eran had chosen a transsexual to play the role of Asaf/Anna. Hen Yanni is a serious actor, not just a beautiful one. Casting her in the starring role made artistic and commercial sense. Still, the movie would have been more compelling if the audience could have seen a true transsexual in the role.

We saw this film at the Little Theatre as part of the top-notch ImageOut--the Rochester LGBT Film and Video Festival.

I just saw this movie last night. 'Melting Away' has great character development to tell a touching story. I am a straight, white, married male who really liked this Israeli movie. Assaf is a young man who adopts an alternative lifestyle. His father screams at him about going out at night with his 'freak friends'. Assaf leaves with his friends, after which his father (Shlomo)and mother (Galya) search his room to find female clothing hidden under the bed. The father gathers up the clothing into a bag and puts the bag outside. Galia gets in her car to search for Assaf, to no avail. Later, the son comes home to find he is locked out with the bag his father put on the sidewalk. We fast forward to 4 years later for the bulk of this wonderfully told story, seen from many viewpoints. One of the best movies I have seen this year!

A person doesn't adopt the alternative lifestyle of being transsexual or homosexual, anymore than does a heterosexual or a hermaphrodite.

I did not get to choose ... and don't know anyone who did.

Most transsexuals are not accepted by their family and friends - so they go off into a new life and find new friends who did not know them as males (or females, if transitioning to male). Even telephone calls become less and less often since most cannot pull off a female-sounding voice or cadence of speech.

I miss my friend very much - and stay in touch and accept her few and far between emails. It's good to know she's OK and happy.

This is a movie for all to see -- especially people who want to have children and parents who have children who might be different.

I will purchase the DVD of this movie as soon as it comes out. It's an amazing story - and well acted. A must-see! I've seen it only twice, so far.

I wish this film would be seen more widely. It is about how a family reconciles itself to a son (Assaf) who is a transsexual but it could be any kind of non-criminal behaviour that the relatives find objectionable. The mother, the father and even a slightly twisted uncle have difficulties accepting Assaf's decision and new life as a woman. The acting is superb as each supporting character, including a detective who blow's the son's cover story, comes to grips with the new reality.

Although the story has a universal message, there is one subtlety of the Hebrew language that s non-Hebrew speaker must know to appreciate how well this film is constructed. In Hebrew, "you" for a man (atah) is different for than "you" for a woman (at). This extends to "you" as an object in a sentence (otchah/otach). Hopefully my crummy Hebrew got that right. I have found that Israelis can become quite snotty (even more than usual) when addressed incorrectly.

The English subtitles try to convey Anna (formerly Assaf)'s discomfort at being addressed as a man. However, the subtitles fail the non-Hebrew speaker at the moment when Anna's mother finally addresses Anna as "at".

With that little Hebrew lesson in mind, I highly recommend this film to anyone.