Efes beyahasei enosh

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.

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.

I was ready for some comedy and the Israeli movie "Zero Motivation" way exceed my expectation. In addition to a great script, with a well- organized and tightly structured plot, it is filled with black comedy, feminism, friendship, and work ethics wrapped with a little nudity and horror, all done with a limited budget. The acting are very good too.

The movie was divided into three parts which are linked together by two central characters, Daffi (Nelly Tagar) and Zohar (Dana Ivgy), both young female soldiers working in the administration department of a military base in the middle of the dessert. They are among a group of equally demotivated female colleagues supervised by ambitious but frustrated Captain Rama (Shani Klein), the only female officer in the management team.

The film starts with good friends Daffi and Zohar reluctantly return to base after a short break. Daffi, a clerical worker in charge of paper and the shredder, is tired of being stuck in the dessert and wants to be transferred to Tel Aviv. She seeks help from Zohar who is responsible for mail and trusts her in mailing letters for her transfer. Comedy erupts when a new comer Tehila (Yonit Tobi) enters the camp and Daffi treats her as her replacement until something tragic happens.

In the second part, Zohar is obsessed about losing her virginity but she exercises her independent thinking and receives help from a fellow colleague who asserts the female ego.

It is the third part that ties all the loose ends from part one and two and we see more comedy, irony and creative action. Then everything ends in a reasonable and interesting wrap up.

I would not divulge too much plot as it will spoil the fun. But I can guarantee that it is packed with jokes and laughter while making you think about the absurdity and blessing in life, while pondering on gender roles.

Perhaps the only short coming is the military setting which is hard for most international audience to identify with. But the issues of office management, friendship and courtship are universal across industry and culture. Most importantly, the voice of female power is strong. Highly recommended.

Zero Motivation follows in the tradition of Catch-22 (1970) and M*A*S*H (1970) by exploring the understated banalities, vulgarities and absurdities of military life. Much like those films, we follow a congress of loosely connected characters, none of which approach their jobs with any kind of pride or relish. Instead they see their predicament as some sort of purgatory by which a better life lies just beyond their reach. Slight difference in this case, is the majority of the films denizens are Israeli women and not American men.

The story is divided into three vignettes largely following the quiet and diminutive Zohar (Ivgy) and the rebellious Daffi (Tagar). The first story involves the duo returning from furlough. On their way back to base they meet Tehila (Tobi) who Zohar mistakes for a replacement thus making her dream of transferring to reality. Tehila however is not what she seems. The second story involves Daffi's fruitless quest to loose her virginity which has disastrous consequences on her unit, including and especially Rama (Klein) her superior officer. The last story sees the unintended results of Zohar's constant schemes to leave her isolated base for a cushy position in Tel Aviv.

The rest of the ensemble includes Russian transplant Irena (Klingon) and twitty songbirds Livnat (Twito) and Liat (Gal), who fill out the rest of the unit like glitches in a computer program.Though if one were to point to a standout performance it would be Shani Klein as Rama. Between the privates and the male high commanders, Rama approaches everything with exaggerated incredulity and frustrated exhaustion. Anyone who has had to supervise a gaggle of uncaring, unmotivated underlings while being pressed by micromanaging overseers will automatically sympathize with her plight. Especially when faced with the one-woman agent of chaos that is Nelly Tagar's Daffi.

Each vignette ends in much the same way; ironically and with a darkly humorous twist where no one is a modicum happier. Even those who have never experienced Army life (or been a woman) will find a lot to love about Zero Motivation. The girls are fighting the same kind of dull lethargy many of us contend with on a daily basis. When the plot isn't grinding hopes and dreams into a fine powder, the girls occupy their time with various distractions, the most coveted of which is Daffi's Minesweeper game. It's sad, bordering on pathetic yet when something as inconsequential as a computer game is the only trinket tethering your sanity, you'd want to hold on to it too.

Darker than Stripes (1981), funnier than Catch-22 and way more concise than M*A*S*H, Zero Motivation is a fierce, fun little satire made all the more relevant coming from a country that has only known war since its inception. While it does pull its punches in the last act, leaving us with an ending that is uncharacteristically hopeful, everything leading up to it is pure gold. Check out this Israeli import if for no other reason than you'll never look at a staple gun the same way again.

Some elements of the movie are quite unbelievable, but the movie is clever enough to approach them gradually and only after achieving buy-in from the audience. What with the delicate balance of comedy and drama, when the girls start duelling with staple guns you truly aren't sure whether somebody's going to get terribly hurt or not. I've never been a fan of Dana Ivgy, sullen and sulky as she always looks, but the role here fits her; and it's a nice script, divided into ostensibly separate chapters but surprising the audience with links between them and not ending before even the shrewish valkyrie of a desk officer has been vouchsafed a moment of sympathy from the audience. If Nat Hiken were alive, I think he and his creation Sergeant Bilko would approve.