Sof Ha'Olam Smola

I have watched this film 2.5 times and it has touched me from start to finish . Sure it is entertainment , but isn't that what the movies are for ? I will recommend it for a Film Festival I am Chairing The acting is credible.The two protagonist are divine in their own ways & the narrative flow keeps one involved from the charming beginning to the surprise ending . There are so few pleasant movies coming out of Israel to offset the gloom and doom and directors constant attacks at Israeli Society, therefor this one wins in the charm parade .It is a just a great flick for mature audiences. Watch it and be drawn in as you take the voyages of discovery with the protagonists . R J LIFF

This film was a great success in Israel, and I was waiting for the opportunity to see it, unfortunately it was a rather disappointing experience.

The story happens at the end of the 60s, a time of economic boom in Israel after the six days war, but also a time Israel was led by the Labor party, which was conducting a socialist type of economy, directing resources to building industry in 'development' towns and trying to populate the remotely located desert areas of the country. New immigrants coming from India have to face the culture, climate and social shock of being badly integrated in a new society, having to surpass the language barrier, but above all encountering the lack of trust of the 'veteran' immigrants, from Morocco in this case.

The principal characters are two teenage girls, well played by two talented actresses, Liraz Charchi and Neta Garty who will build their friendship as a first and fragile bridge of understanding between their two communities. The story develops around their coming to age, while the theme of the integration of the Indian community borrows some elements from similar films about the integration of the Indian or Pakistanis immigrants in the UK. There is one scene, where a cricket team initiated by the Indians plays a game against a British team, when after the locals are humiliated on the play-ground the game is interrupted by a chaotic incident, so typical to the middle eastern mentality, and this is one of the best scenes of the movie.

Unfortunately, for the rest of the movie we get a treatment that is quite common to the Israeli cinema, a mix of vaudeville playing, melodrama, endless ethnic jokes that may sound well in a theater, but do not cross the screen, and amateuristic camera work and soundtrack. Opposite to the fresh acting of the two young main characters the rest of the cast acts in an outdated and melodramatic manner. This is called jokingly 'burekas' movies in Israel (burekas being a kind of pastry or pies specific to the area) and this film despite of its good intentions and a few shining moments is not much more than a 'burekas' film.

This movie is full of characters and incidents, almost as if the writers felt they might never have the chance to write again, but I think that consistently it is about people trying to repair their wounded pride. The two immigrant communities involved-- assigned housing not in the center of Israel nor yet in Eilat (the road sign says it's 170 kilometers to Eilat) but in a tiny desert town-- have different native languages but they share a resentment at having come down in the world from their pre-emigrant lives and seeing no way back. The men resent their factory jobs and ultimately strike against their employer. Some of the women resent their lack of opportunity and try to prove their worth by taking lovers. The story is set in the 1960s and includes occasional narration from the point of view of the present, making it a sort of "Our Town" or "I Remember Mama" saluting the loved ones of the past-- as if everything were different now, although in today's society too the argument could still be made that geography is destiny.

It is true that this film was a major hit in Israel and no wonder one can easily guess why ? One wild guess is that it did all it could to portray a hippie dippy picture of the immigrant question.The immigrants in question are from India and Morocco and the film is about their efforts to find a firm footing within Israelian society.The film fails to score as its depiction of immigrants is much too unreal,lacks credibility and to top it all a lot of irrelevant material is added which bears no link to the film's plot line.The Indian actors in this film have been dubbed as failures in India and watching them act in an Israelian film the people wondered as to how they landed such roles for themselves.The game of cricket in a film from Israel like this one was a pure gimmick as the film maker wanted to cash the popularity of this sport in Asian subcontinent.This is a film one must watch only to ascertain what made it so famous.

I think this movie is totally false advertised. It is NOT about LGBTQ+ stuff, the two girls didn't fall in love w/ each other, they only kiss once, you can see this among the pictures. But I really liked how the movie pointed out the struggles both Moroccan and Indian Jews faced. Also, the abundance of languages (Hebrew, French and English) is really the strongest feature of this movie, so if you're a polyglot, you will enjoy this film. So if you expect an LGBT movie, you will be disappointed, but if you just want to see a family-friendly piece, about youth, about the 60s in Israel and about what it's like to be a newcomer in the country, you will be satisfied with this movie.