Jellyfish

Meduzot (2007) is an Israeli film written and co-directed by Shira Geffen. (The other co- director is Etgar Keret.) The film was shown in the U.S. with the title "Jellyfish."

Sarah Adler plays Batia, a fine person, but possibly the world's worst waitress. One day, at the seashore, a young girl drifts to shore, buoyed by a small plastic doughnut-shaped tube, and walks up to Batia. This little girl, played by Nikol Leidman, never speaks. We know she exists, because at one point she and Batia are in a police station, and the detective sees her too. However, that's all we know about her. Ms. Leidman is either completely guileless, or she's the best actor in the film. Her solemn, wide-eyed gaze is riveting.

Several other characters interact in the film--a Filipino nurse who has been forced to emigrate without her young son, a brother and sister and their sick mother, and a newly wedded bride who has broken her leg on her wedding day.

I enjoyed the movie because it was about ordinary people living ordinary lives--no soldiers, no explosions, no violent confrontations. The acting was uniformly excellent, and I was caught up in the film from beginning to end. It's worth seeing and worth seeking out. It will probably work well on DVD--most of the action is intimate and doesn't require a large screen. This film was shown at the excellent Rochester High Falls International Film Festival.

The female heart is shared through four, perhaps five female roles, and a token male. I say token because, perhaps like in the lives of all women as they compete with one another yet strive mutually for acceptance, men can often be little more than an accessory. Here the hopes, pains, and disappointments of wives, mothers, daughters, and career women are shared in a very poetic and imaginative way. Wonderful cinemoatography. The use of setting is especially effective.

Not quite sure how to describe this movie other than it captures the daily frustrations of Israeli life and the mystery that can befuddle anyone in their daily life, young or old.

All movies normally have a bit of glass between the viewer and the actors/actresses. This movie seems to dissolve that. A very strange phenomenon. But you feel more connected to the people on the screen. Like they are right before you. The only exception would be those moments that seem like dream sequences, but are all too real... or rather surreal.

I started out watching this movie to pick up a little bit of hebrew and soak up some of the sights of Tel Aviv. I am happy that I did. The scenes are very accurate. I especially liked one scene involving a taxi driver, a cat and some other key details that will amuse anyone who has spent time in Israel.

I got much more from this and plan to bring this movie to my parents house for mother's day. I hope they will enjoy it as much as I did.

This film is showing at the Maine Jewish Film Festival in April and I was fortunate enough to see it early. The film is a unique offering from Israel where you do not often see poetic films like this. The acting is excellent, too. The story may be a bit abstract for some and others may think it is a bit derivative. But all art derives from life or reflections of life and this film is a wonderful look into the lives of these women and a mysterious little nymph from the ocean who wears a float ring. Well worth the awards garnered so far: Cannes Film Festival,Bratislava International Film Festival, and Israeli film Academy. A movie worth seeking out!

NICE : As Paul Thomas Anderson with "Magnolia", Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen chose with "Meduzot" to focus on a few characters that life randomly carries from one shore to another. Everything is tainted by a depressive but amusing tone that gives a pleasant melancholia feeling to the spectator. The fact that the story happens in Tel-Aviv does't seem to affect the lightness of this unpretentious movie, that only wants to underline the loneliness every human being faces in his life and give a little touch of hope to this sad fact.

EASY : As Agnès Jaoui in "Le Goût des autres", Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen don't avoid in "Meduzot" some very easy and predictable critics, especially when it comes to give a satirical look on the artistic world of theater of the city. They also can't avoid some "Shortcuts" in the portrayal of their characters, and especially in the depiction of the angry - but at the end nice and well... just lonely - old lady. This two elements spoil a little bit the pleasure you can get to the pleasant little scenes the film offer.