Null Motivation - Willkommen in der Armee!

In Talya Lavie's film there is a scene where a male soldier tells female conscripts about his recruit training. It was really bad, like the holocaust, he narrates. Why? Because the officers were like the Nazis, he goes on. I'm not a Jew, so if I told you the rest of this holocaust joke, it would be absolutely tasteless. I can't do that. But funny it is, when told by a Jew in Israeli Defense Forces uniform to other soldiers. The humour in this film relies on unlikely and sudden contradictions such as this, which is pretty much the definition of a farce. Some reviewers here have obviously not recognized this genre and have not expected the unexpected which this film delivers in plentiful doses. If you ask a cinema lover about Jewish humour, she or he probably first thinks of Woody Allen telling a joke about God, and why not - but he's told so many of them we're surely ready for some new perspectives. Joseph Cedar's Footnote was a refreshing dark comedy from Israel and Lavie's Zero Motivation is a fine showcase for classical Jewish humour in a fresh setting, the all-female personnel files office of a desert military base. One reviewer thought that the soldier girls are bitching and lack solidarity - to me it seems they are mostly just being argumentative pretty much as a Jew is expected and brought up to be. Another non-Israeli reviewer was shocked by the suicide of a young woman sneaking into the base dressed as a soldier. This is sensitive, of course, but one has to remember the tragicomic context. The biggest fear in the Israeli base is surely an attack by a suicide bomber. Then an outsider penetrates the base using a fake ID - and kills herself but for purely romantic reasons. The Palestinians are present in the film only in hints such as this. The film is based on Talya Lavie's own experiences in the IDF. She must have been bored. But the audience of the film is not. I'm not in the target audience: I'm a 60-year old Nordic male conscience objector and as said not Jewish. Yet I enjoyed the whole thing and think I got most of the jokes right. Could be re-written into an effective theatrical farce.

A group of army administrators live their dreary days on a quiet military base.

It's hard to define this movie, it's like MASH but with administration. Or like The Office in the army. It's enjoyable, but sometimes it jumps too quickly between fun and pure darkness of time. It's a unique movie that is worth checking out if you want to avoid more mainstream titles. Just watch out, the nudity comes form nowhere, and so do some other darker surprises.

It is interesting that every army looks alike. When I served in the Yugoslav Army back in 1987/88 I felt exactly the same as some of these girls. Stupidity of the Army is dumbfounding. This film portrays that well. I guess armies have to exist to protect the societies from the various enemies, and with Ukraine-Russia conflict it is obvious that well organized armies are good deterrent from the attack by the foreign enemy.

Females can be good soldiers even better then males sometimes. This film portrays this well. It also shows us insides of the Israeli Defense Force. Interesting creation is that Israel. A state to protect Jews from the outside enemies. I hate to admit it but there is a reason for Israel to exist, because so many crazies want to hurt Jews. Crazy!!! All the Jews I know are good people. They could be more open to the outside friendlies of other religions, but since what happened to them during WWII it is understandable why they are that way. Once bitten by a snake you are afraid of a snail! Plus they are surrounded by the Arabs. What a dumber!

I recommend that you watch this sweet film.

i will admit, i'm an Israeli guy and i think that the film industry in my country still has a lot to improve when it comes to quality, to meet with other countries standards. in the last 5-6 years, there has been a huge improvement in film editing. Israeli films used to be about drama and comedy, there almost hasn't been any thrillers or sci-fic but now we get the chance to enjoy new styles like "vals with bashir" which is an academy award winning animated Israeli film, or "bufor" - military thriller ,"big bad wolves" - an amazing high quality horror-drama, all are big budget films.

the lately "zero motivation" ('efes be'yahasey enosh' - zero in social skills) is the most entertaining Israeli film i've seen so far. it's about 3-4 IDF female soldiers who work in office of their military base. doing paper work and complains about anything and everything. the film is hilarious from beginning to end. not even one minute that is boring. the acting is superb and the dialog is just natural. the film is a huge box office hit in Israel, on the top of the charts for more than 2 months already, and receiving a 90% positive reviews from critics and regular watchers. to make a long story short, if you are looking for 2 hours of sweet drive, this is the one for you. 10 out of 10.

This is a lovely coming-of-age movie about very young women coping with their impossibly dull military service in the Israeli army. The film is very funny with a lot of attention to detail (the officers routinely meet in front of a map marked "Palestine"). The sound track is simple but beautifully put into the context of the movie. The camera work is very low key, and very reminiscent of early Israeli movies in its style. Its not a political movie but it does give a genuine insight into how many young Israeli women experience their military service. As a footnote I will say that I saw it in Tel Aviv, the theatre was packed and as the movie started there was a siren and the whole audience had to shuffle into the exit tunnels. After a few minutes (and having heard the explosion of a missile being intercepted nearby), we went back to our seats and the movie restarted.