Israeli comic-turned-director, Idan Alterman, boldly confesses his height complex and tries to figure out whether his experiences as a height-disadvantaged teenager has made him turn to comedy, where he could stand out and make his short-comings his forte. Because this issue is so personal to him, Alterman's sincerity manages to extract fantastic sound bites from Israeli rock stars, world renowned politicians, award winning photo-journalists and fellow comics and actors of the stage and screen, who "come out" and confess the trials and tribulations of being "vertically disadvantaged". I wonder if Tom Cruise would have had the guts to sit down to be interviewed on this matter by Mr. Alterman. Although the tone is light and very humorous, this 50 minute long festival crowd-pleaser has a deeper layer to it. Being short is only one aspect of it. It's about being different, being singled out, feeling socially awkward and finding strengths within to compensate it, to become a happy, functioning individual, complex free (I am short, but my husband is tall, and I found his eyes moist and glistening in the dark by the film's end, it has touched him as well. Later, he told me that's the story of his childhood as well, with the "slight" difference that he was the tallest kid in class, and not the shortest). "Namuch" ("Short" in Hebrew) follows two Israeli teens of different backgrounds who currently struggle to gain the respect of their classmates, peers and prospective girlfriends although they are "the tiniest kids in class". One of them goes so far as to participate in an experimental medical program, and to inject daily doses of growth hormone into his thigh in hope that this will help him grow taller. The kids' frankness, as well as the lush cinematography, the brisk pace and the film's analytical structure make "Namuch" a moving experience, that makes you swell up with tears, right before you burst into laughter. Absolutely lovely. (Screened at the Israeli Film Festival 2006, New York).
