Yossi

OK, so here we go. Cynics amongst us may find it all a little too predictable. The concept is not original and certainly we're going to see allot more of this "ethos" in a move if you like - HOWEVER, the director has brilliantly kept the overall footage quite raw when you think of it and this does create a sense of realism to the movie.

Yossi and Jagger was a valiant attempt and it caught, I think, the emotions of many gay men who don't necessarily identify with wider gay culture. It spoke to the "man" in us if you will.

Yossi struck all the right notes. You felt his pain, his loneliness and you cheered on his ultimate revival - however, it's not a given. Not in anyway shape or form and how it happens is not predictable in the least. Outstanding positioning and an honest, thoughtful script lead to a most enjoyable movie experience.

And even for a cynical old bitch like me, I must say, I very nearly shed a tear...nearly!

The film centres around a gay man in his mid-thirties who works as a cardiologist in Tel Aviv, Israel. Still grieving his lover killed years ago, he lives a repressed and lonely life until things change in the film's second half.

This is a very compassionate film. It is occasionally satirical including a great scene that exposes the superficiality of the online dating scene. In the lead role, Ohad Knoller expresses the loneliness with much subtlety. He's quite likeable.

The film could have prolonged a passionate scene near the end. It also misses an opportunity to explore the apparent bi-curiousity of one of Yossi's colleagues. Still, it is fine entertainment. Points must be given for the avoidance of typical plotline cliches around gay characters.

This film tells the life of Yossi, the Israeli soldier who lost his love in war, ten years after his loss. Yossi has become a cardiologist, working in a hospital. He is lonely and solitary on purpose. He meets a young soldier, and he struggles whether to let someone into his life or not, just like last time with Jagger.

"Yossi" is very similar to the last film, "Yossi & Jagger". Yossi is basically still the same restrained and solitary man, rejecting something beautiful for reasons only he would know. The pacing is slow, which echoes the psychological state of Yossi being slow to warm up to people who love him. It also touches on healing after loss, and the stigma on being gay, but these themes are not so well developed to become tear jerking subplots. Though it is not particularly engaging or moving, and the low budget shows, it is still worth a watch.

Set in contemporary Israel, YOSSI follows the life of the eponymous hero (Ohad Knoller), a heart surgeon who spends most of his life at work to try to compensate for a non-existent social life. Having lost his lover in combat, Yossi spends his few leisure hours watching porno films on a computer, trying and failing to find dates, and making a pilgrimage to Varda's (Orly Silbersatz's) house - Varda being the mother of his deceased lover. Eytan Fox's film is a stark depiction of loneliness - there is little or no music, and the camera scarcely departs from Yossi's face as he looks at his shapeless figure and wonders whether he will be able to escape the trauma of his loss. However the film takes an optimistic turn as Yossi travels to a resort, and on the way meets up with a group of soldiers. One of them, Tom (Oz Zehavi) takes a fancy to him - even though it takes a long time for Yossi to shed his inhibitions and respond in kind. In a consciously vulgar seaside resort, full of manufactured entertainment and artificial swimming-pools, the two of them spend the night together and subsequently take a life-changing decision. Fox's film offers hope for anyone trying to cope with the pain of losing a loved one.

Both of these movies were powerful films and the sequel does not disappoint. Ohad Knoller did a wonderful job. One of the existing reviews seemed to judge everything based on the looks of the individual actors in the film which seemed rather shallow. I did agree with them on some points though. Yes, Yossi, in spite of the weight he has added, still carried the movie, and he is still a strikingly handsome fellow. At first I could not recognize him as the same fellow that was in Jossi and Jagger. Secondly, the toilet scene where the other doctor brings a girl in to have a threesome with Yossi, seemed a little out of place, but perhaps it added some additional perspective to the lonely and dismal place that Jossi was in his life at that stage. Overall, I loved the movie and would say that it is easily Israel's answer to Brokeback Mountain. I thought about Jossi for days after viewing the film in much the same way I did when I saw Brokeback Mountain.

I would now like to see anything with Ohad Knoller in it...he is my new favorite actor. Go Ohad!!!