Metallic Blues

Perhaps I could blame the playbill at the Philadelphia International Film Fest, but I was hoping for slightly more comedic angle to Dan Verete's film. Whereas the drama that is unveiled on certain events within is strong, and the characters of Sisso and Shmuel well written, the story became both predictable and bulky. Many of the comparisons between Israel and Germany had so much subtle humor that it is unfortunate that style of humor was ignored as their plot to unload the Lincoln limo rambled on without so much as a road map. Key parts of the story would have had such a richer element of drama to it if more humor was added - and at times such humor was almost begging to be entered. With METALLIC BLUES, Verete writes a different kind of road movie and even a different kind of a buddy movie. The film definitely captures that European feel to it - right down to the ending as a matter of fact. The film even nicely portrays the everyday lives of two Israeli men in the 21st Century without burdening this Gentile with insider Jewish "tsuris." Regrettably, the film suffers displaying the mediocrity of the situation when so many alternate cinematic paths could have resulted in a stronger story.

When you first read a synopsis of Metallic Blues, you think it is going to be a road picture comedy, but it is not a comedy. It's actually a tragedy focusing upon a man who is so influenced by history that it impedes his judgment.

The visuals in the film are impressive from the start. You see a Middle Eastern village where you might expect to see Jesus or Moses walking by but instead, you see a metallic blue 1985 Lincoln Continental limousine. The juxtaposition of images separated by over two-thousand years is a shocker.

A man enters the car and drives it to a local car dealer where he hopes to sell it. It seems that he has moved back from Canada and cannot afford the tax on the car. The dealership is manned by two. One appears to be the worker of the pair - keeping the cars clean and running. The other is a cookie cutter version of many auto salesmen to be found everywhere in the world. He is Shmuel, the apparent owner of the lot and has seen the same car in a German dealer's catalog priced at €50,000. He conferences with Siso, the worker of the pair, whose financial support he needs and convinces him to invest in the purchase of the car. In the typical car dealer fashion, Shmuel makes a deal to buy the car from the "ignorant Arab" for €5,000.

Siso's wife is very upset that he has taken family funds to finance the scheme. They have four children and were planning on using the money to convert a space in their small apartment in order to provide a room for their teenaged daughter.

Shmuel has a fine apartment with all the latest improvements and no children. The only conflict he meets concerning his part in the scheme is that his wife is upset that she can't go along to sell the car in Europe. Shumel doesn't disclose to his wife that he is traveling to Germany to sell the car. He is wary of her reaction because most of his family was murdered in concentration camps.

This is the first indication of the ultimate darkness of this film for it begins to change from a film about two unsophisticated guys in the big city to an examination of the psyche of a man who has been damaged by horrible events in his family's history even though they took place fifteen years before he was born.

Once the two get to Germany, events start off lightly but get worse and worse until the frightening climax of the film.

Of the reviews on this site, two are written by Israelis. Opposite in opinion, both are interesting to read in order to get an Israeli insight into this film. For me, it was an educating experience in some of the attitudes of persons of a Middle Eastern (not necessarily Jewish) mindset. One that stands out in my mind is when Shmuel and Siso are caught in a big traffic jam in Germany. They think that the Germans are crazy to sit and wait patiently. Shmuel derides them for not becoming angry and blowing their horns. Events such as this that take place through out make this film is a good lesson in the dangers of letting emotion overrule reason - a lesson good for anyone no matter where one lives.

I saw this as part of the Seattle International Film Festival and I go without much expectations because I don't even like to read the descriptions of the movies before I see them. I did hear after a few disgruntled complaints of how this wasn't a comedy overall. Well it really is not a comedy. This is a typical Israeli film with a theme, a purpose, a lesson. And typically Israeli, it's laced with humor all over it. The topics get heavy as heavy things happened in Germany not too long ago. The lessons are so brilliantly laid out, that this movie could be a bible story. The acting is top notch. Everything about this movie is tops. Yallah, go see it!

Most people think that the Jewish holocaust that occurred in Europe half a century ago ended with the war. Others understand that hideous events like the holocaust was, stays with the person for the rest of his life, hurting him, his abilities to have a normal love life, a normal family, a normal everything. But only a few, outside of Israel or Jewish houses around the world, can realize the effect it has on the generation that came right after it. Metallic Blues is a film about that generation.

As you could have probably guessed by now I liked the movie very much. It is very well done including a great performance by Moshe Ivgy and Avi Kushnir, a wonderful script, photography, and also a tasteful choice of music for the soundtrack. I recommend it very much for Israeli's, but especially for those of you that aren't Israeli. The movie reveals the terrible trauma world war two left with the Jewish people, making the viewer understand how much time it will take before it will go away, if ever. It also maybe gives some sort of explanation for the madness that has been going on for decades in Israel. Like a child with a bad childhood. A sad movie.

The formula here is simple and modest. It's Don Quixote & Sancho Panza by way of Abbott and Costello: one fellow has the wacky, ambitious idea, and the other fellow tags along because his loyalty is stronger than his intelligence. Misadventure follows misadventure. Meanwhile, although originally the idea man thinks nothing of going to Germany to sell a luxury car-- presumably he could have sold it somewhere else, but he happened to have a German price list at hand and worries only about making sure his parents don't know his destination-- his bad luck awakens latent thoughts of the old genocidal Germany, or his latent thoughts of the old genocidal Germany awaken bad luck.

Is this a drama or a comedy? There's nothing wrong with a smattering or an undertone of serious issues within a comedy; you could argue that there's no good comedy without them. But I think that this one loses its balance for a moment or two when it stops being funny but can't be taken seriously either. The characters have comic appeal, but there isn't an emotional appeal they can rely on when the comedy is waived.