Aviva Ahuvati

I read good reviews and decided to give it a shot last night. the plot is about a "writer" that's trying to publish a book but she's not good enough of a writer. In between the main plot, that are a few mini-boring plots related to her sister and her mother. Most of the movie is focusing on her attempt to publish a book.

There are no jokes, no suspense or any dramatic events. It felt like a huge waste of my time. There is nothing really special going on in the movie, while watching it, I noticed that it was boring but was hoping for some sort of a twist at the end. What a huge disappointment, this movie is boring!

I watched the movie at the film festival in Hamburg and it surprised me in a very positive way. Like the director said, this movie is a love song about his hometown. All characters ale drawn quite perfectly, they match into the whole plot. The actors made a very good work, cause I'm sure, that it really isn't easy to play a role, which shows quite every aspect of life. Sometimes their reaction seems to be illogical, sometimes just funny and sometimes full of tears. Especially the main actress makes her job in a impressive way. The director wrote just the perfect screenplay for a female actress and she is exploiting the material as good as it is possible. With all these colorful characters this movie shows really good how life is. Crazy, funny and dramatic in the same time. Thumbs up!

After this film, Shemi Zarhin also wrote and directed "The World Is Funny," also set in Tiberias and also featuring some of the same actors. Also, in fact, involving attempts by the characters to write fiction. In both movies, an ordinary person seeks out help from a celebrity whose fame rests on his past. But it's been complained on these pages that in "Aviva, My Love" there are too many characters. I think that in "The World Is Funny" there are more, but the story is balanced among them and it's a more pleasant story. In "Aviva, My Love" much more attention goes to the female lead than to anyone else, and you can imagine why. Although she's supported by some of Israel's best actors, Assi Levy is consistently magnetic on the screen here. She won the country's best film actress award for this performance. It's not surprising that the film winds up giving little time to, for example, her adolescent children. How many are there, three? Pretty much the same film could have been written with two or even one. Not that I'm complaining. It's more gratifying to see someone make an impressive film like this and then a more impressive one like "The World Is Funny" than the other way around.

When this film was made in 2006 the problem of growing gaps in Israeli Society was quite clear. But in December 2008 when I saw the movie it is even more relevant. A combination of economic pressures with political and security pressures makes life crazy. It reminds me of a recent French movie I saw Claude Lelouch "Roman de gare" 2007. Also a writer and the crazy pace of "Modern" Society. With the present growing uncertainty and Economic Crunch that we do not know when it will end I give 10 to "Aviva my Love". In recent years Israeli cinema has grown in international Popularity and this movie can be compared with Assy Dayan's work.

Unfortunately, the movie disappointed me tremendously. Poor characterization (too many characters), a trite treatment of the themes that were raised, a lack of development and resolution in the plot and a lot of general sloppiness. I couldn't help but compare it to Broken Wings and Nina's Tragedies- and found it sorely lacking. It seemed- in general- to lack quality.

On the other hand, the audience around me seemed to like it. And it's been very well reviewed in Israel- receiving an average of 4 out of 5 stars, making it the 5th best reviewed movie in Israel at the moment.

My guess is that if you liked Sof Ha Olam Smola, you might like this, too, even if it's more pretentious and less fun.