Nina's Tragedies

I saw this movie yesterday and i thought it was OK ,but i don't understand what's all the fuss about. The movie tells about the happenings of Nadav, a 13 years old boy, that falls in love with his beautiful aunt, Nina. The movie tells the story through Nadav's eyes from the moment his aunt got married to Haimon, till the moment his father dies of cancer. The movie has some sad and funny moments, and i enjoyed watching it. Most of the actors perform very well, especially Dov Navon, in the role of Menashe that always makes me laugh, even though the character was negative. Anat Waxman and Ayelet Zorer also performed pretty well. In my opinion, the movie's number one problem is that the main character, Nadav, and the actor that plays him, Aviv Elkabetz. First of all, the character is pretty negative: he is peeking at his aunt and some other women together with Menashe, and tends to argue with the people he love and confiscate them(Nina and his Dad). Second of all, the actor wasn't very persuasive and had annoying face. Because of his behavior, i had a problem identifying with the main character and that is what bothered me mostly in the movie(i think i even identified with "The Godfather"'s Michael Corleone more than i identified with him), but i can't blame it all on him. I guess the movie was just not that good. Many parts of it were slow, and it just didn't have such an interesting plot after all (but it is worth seeing). I still don't understand how it got such good reviews and so many Israeli Oscars.

i gave it 7/10.

I enjoyed the movie, and laughed out loud, particularly at some of the surprises, which I will not reveal here. Nadav (the boy) is the narrator, and while events in his life may play important roles, the movie really centers around Nina. At the start of the movie we learn that Nadav's father died, and that he was given Nadav's diary, which is the source of our story. The movie finishes at Nadav's father's funeral, with some degree of hope, in spite of Nina's misfortunes. Nina is unlucky in and/or makes bad choices in her relationships, along with suffering from some genuine tragedy and some misinterpreted comic coincidences. I understand why it won several awards in Israel, and would enjoy seeing it again. The movie deliberately begins and ends with the father's death and funeral as it is about beginnings, endings, life, death, despair, and hope.

This film is much more sophisticated than the average Israeli movie, with a thoughtful script, excellent production values, and decent acting. It even unfolds slightly out of sequence, an arty touch that some might find confusing, though everything comes together nicely at the end. It's not just a good movie by Israeli standards, but by any standards. With movies like this one, and Broken Wings, the Israeli cinema is demonstrating a new level of vitality and professionalism.

This movie is narrated by Nadav, a pubescent boy who has a crush on his beautiful aunt, but the focus isn't on young lust as capsule descriptions might lead you to believe. It's much more about the difficulty of growing up and coming to terms with the problems of the adult world, and with the human frailties of your loved ones. And his family is a wacky bunch. Dad has dropped out and joined a bunch of religious fanatics/ecstatics. Mom is a flighty fashion designer who has a new boyfriend every week. And aunt Nina is a recent widow whose grief sometimes separates them, and sometimes brings them closer.

In his struggle to understand the adult world, Nadav occasionally turns to peeping through windows, a practice the director tries to portray as an offshoot of his sensitive, inquiring mind. Some viewers may find it a bit creepy, particularly because of his partner in crime, a socially inept adult named Menahem (played with great comic effect by Dov Navon). But that, too, is a small part of the plot, and since we're peeping at the same things he is, we're in no position to cast stones.

Along with the problems of adult life, the film portrays lots of the small moments that make it so rich and interesting as well. These incidents in the lives of the various characters may be absurd, but they also have the ring of truth about them.

Nadav acts childishly throughout the film, refusing to talk to family members he loves, but that he feels have betrayed him. He comes around in the end, though, and in the heartwarming climax he accepts them with their faults, just as he comes to see that they also accept him with his.

One of the most common errors in film reviewing is mistaking "Realistic" with "Genuine". For example, a movie might be considered realistic because it depicts a harsh environment, poverty, crime and all the other features that are a part on any country but it will be completely not genuine because the characters are shallow, stereotypical and the plot would just too dramatic to actually occur like a 16 year old who becomes a drug baron or something (sweet 16 comes to mind as an example).

On the other hand, there are films who arre not very (or even remotely) realistic but they're genuine because their feelings and lines (in the dialogue, enough about drugs) are something we can all relate to. films that are genuine could be: Jerry Mcquire, His girl friday, Trainspotting, se7en etc. I am happy to say that Nina's tragedies, although nowhere near as good as those masterpieces, definitely earns its place in the Genuine hall of fame.

The movie, in short, tells the tale of Nadav, a 14 year old kid who reminisces 6 months of his life, beginning from the death of his aunt's husband up to his father's death. His aunt, Nina ( portrayed by Ayelet Zorer, in my opinion, the Israeli equivalent of Maryl Streep)is shattered and Nadav is asked by his mother to move in with her and Nadav who is secretly infatuated with Nina, is more than happy to be a shoulder to cry on.

Unfortunately, Nadav's already complex plot thickens even more when his father who became a fanatic religious a couple of years ago, falls ill with cancer and wants to reconcile with his estranged son while into Nina's life enters an eccentric photographer (Alon Aboutboul). Nadav is about to face every demon he has in the next six months and in the worst possible time- when he reaches puberty.

The movie is magnificent, it boasts great acting and script but most of all, it has those little scenes that are seemingly insignificant but they are the scenes that make us want to rent it again and again.

8.5 out of 10 in my FilmOmeter. The best Israeli film of 2003, so far.

A lonely, bookish 14 year old boy, Nadav is infatuated with his Aunt Nina, his mother's younger sister. When her husband is killed in a terrorist attack only a couple of months after their marriage, Nina is devastated. Fearing the worst, Nadav is sent by his mother to be with her. So begins 'the happiest days of his life, so far.'

The problem is that Nadav, in his innocence and naivety, believes this to be the beginning of something much more. Nina herself is oblivious to this, seeing only a loving nephew and young boy. Seen through Nadav's eyes, we witness the slightly bizarre reality of the world around him – Nina coming to terms with her grief, his parents dealing with their separation and his father's illness, his best friend (Menachem – a much older man) dealing with his budding relationship with Galina.

While under-stated, Nina's Tragedies is a genuine mix of comedy, pathos, anger and sadness (but thankfully avoiding melodramatic pitfalls), has fully-rounded characters, a tight script and a uniformly excellent cast. It is understandable why the film won eleven Israeli Film Awards in 2003 (including Best Feature).