Asia

Well acted but conceptually somewhat uninteresting view of Russian-Jewish mother and daughter having it just as tough in Israel as in Russia. Uninteresting for me anyway once the daughter's illness became the main focus.

Israel's submission for last year's International Film Award. Proof positive that the seemingly slightest plotted screenplay can still produce a shattering impact.

Asia (Alena Yiv) is a Russian woman and single mother working as a nurse in Jerusalem. Her teenage daughter Vika (Shira Haas) is in failing health but does her best to try to fit in with her free-spirited skateboarding friends. Writer-Director Ruthy Pribar never pushes the drama. Both parent and child aren't perfect and the actresses never play for audience sympathy. There is a nice accumulation of tiny details like a balky refrigerator and the story never avoids the uncomfortable truths of their lives. Yiv and Haas are exemplary, and the practically wordless final act is brilliantly played and sensitively directed and filmed.

ASIA, awkward title and all, is a beautiful film about a mother and a daughter.

I had no idea what this movie was about. I had seen Shira Haas in Shtisel and Unorthodox and knew she was a rising star. I was glad I had not read any reviews and a short trailer I saw didn't give away the main plot. The movie starts a bit slow, but really grabbed my interest. Both Alena Yiv and Shira Haas are excellent.

Asia is a nurse who is having an affair with a married doctor; her daughter Vika is a teenager who wants a relationship, but is put off by the immaturity of the boy's she and her friends hang out with. From barely acknowledging each other (Asia, left Russia and her daughter's father, who apparently was no bargain), Asia takes care of Vika as the girl's health deteriorates, and they grow closer. Her illness is never mentioned, but it looks like ALS.

It is no wonder this film has achieved such notoriety. A favorite at Sundance, and Israel's submission for an Academy Award, this is an insightful and moving experience. The acting of the two women is simply incredible. Alena Yiv (Asia) is a writer, actor and director; Shira Haas has many fans for her work in the Netflix mini-series "Unorthodox."

It is a movie I want to see again.