Adama, mon kibboutz

Terribly disturbing to see a man (thankfully not realistically) receiving oral sex from a calf in the opening few minutes. Fortunately it gets better. Much better. It won the World Cinema Jury Prize - Dramatic at Sundance as well as the top Israeli film award. We get to see a slice of life on a kibbutz in the 70's and what is presented is portrayed quite well here. It does appear, though, that there is some dissension amongst Jews on whether this is an accurate view or not. From this outsider's view, it's a great story that's well told with fantastic acting.

7.1 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

This is the second feature film by Dror Shaul. Set on an Israeli kibbutz Bet-Gvurot in 1974, this provocative film explores life on the kibbutzim in its most hilarious and dark forms. Dvir (Tom Steinhof) is an adventurous 12-year old who protects his mother Miri (Roni Yudkevitch), a single parent who is emotionally unstable. Miri forms a long-distance romance with an older man in Switzerland Stephan (Henri Garcin). When Stephan comes to visit, Miri emerges from her darkness and for an instant, her life shines. When Stephan's actions bring him into conflict with the leadership of the kibbutz, he is banished and Miri regresses. Dvir's brother Eyal (Pini Tabger) goes off to fight in the Yom Kippur War and Dvir is on his own and restless as he approaches his Bar Mitzvah. The film paints an unflattering image of life on the kibbutz, raising issues such as alcoholism, promiscuity, and acute isolation. When Shaul offered an advance screening at a kibbutz in Israel, they were reportedly shocked and offended. A poignant and funny film with a bitter-sweet ending.

In the center of "Sweet Mud" ("Adama Meshuga'at" in Hebrew) we find the story of Miri Avni (Ronit Yudkevitz) and her growing up son, Dvir (Tomer Steinhof, with a stunning debut), in a southern Kibbutz during the 1970's.

Where people have to struggle to give from themselves for each other, Miri is constantly trying to recover from the mysterious death of her husband. Under these circumstances, Miri's sensitive situation is worsened and stands contrary to the values of equality that rule the Kibbutz, through the eyes of its members.

Dvir, who's at his Bar-Mitzva's year, is familiar with his mom's condition and tries to prevent her from losing her mind and kick her back to float with the stream. This purpose becomes even more complicated when Dvir has to deal the contrast between the Kibbutz's equality values and his mother's liberty and freedom to live as mentally-ill person at the normative society, and is about to change his adolescence and life.

This flick was mastered and crafted by an accurate and sensitive direction, powerful performances, trembling soundtrack and phenomenal cinematography, and it's well driven by its refined storyline.

Dror Shaul portrayed a personal, yet very resolute story of life in the Kibbutz before privatization, alongside a strict, emotionally-precise coming-of-age tale for independence and dignity.

Young actor Tomer Steinhof is the basis of this film. His performance is so minimalistic, so moving and so convincing that he just tears apart the viewers hearts. This kid HAS to win world-wide recognition and must appear on as many films as possible. Beautiful Ronit Yudkevitz is another supporting-pillar of the film, with a wretched, merciless portrait of a lapsed and helpless woman. Her physical and mental deterioration is absolutely heart-rending. The chemistry between these two marvelous actors and the characters they hand over to the screen is very convincing and leads to many emotional refractions.

The supporting actors do wonderful job as well; Senior Belgique actor Henri Garcin shines on a 5-minutes, yet very important role, as the foreign aging lover of Miri; Shai Avivi with a role of the "comic-moderator" though a very malice person; Gal Zaid as the controversial secretary of the Kibbutz; And many more.

Mixed with mesmerizing music and amazing cinematography, this movie turns to be one of the best Israeli films of all times, if not the best of them.

I was truly affected by this piece of culture.

I saw this one on Netflix, and if everything mentioned in the other reviews is in the movie, then the Netflix version cuts at least one episode a bit short. Elsewhere in the movie I noticed what seemed to be an unexplained jump slightly forward in time. But there was a complete story, and it was a good one, about a boy whose kibbutz is putting him through some pro forma tests of maturity for his (secular) bar mitzva while he's being tested much more seriously by real life as his mentally unstable mother has no one else to turn to. A memorial note at the end hints that the story has a certain autobiographical connection; I don't know whether it's direct or not. As other reviews here note, we see the kibbutz through a severely dystopian lens. It would be unfortunate if the audience comes away convinced that kibbutz life was always that bad. Some people remember childhood on the kibbutz as idyllic, although it obviously wasn't that way for everyone.

By the way, I have no idea why the title in English is "Sweet Mud." The Hebrew title means "Crazy Soil."

I saw this movie, just now, not when it was released and hailed as best picture of the year here in Israel. and to summarize everything right now, I will just say: this is not a good film.

This is Dror Shaul's second feature film, and I have to admit that his first and the TV drama he made before this picture are much better. further more, this is his first attempt at directing a drama. the early works were comedies, and were funny and effective.

The first thing you have to know if you'll ever see this film: Israel of the 21st century hates the kibbutz and the values it represented since the formation of the state of Israel. the real situation of the kibbutzim is very dire, and some of them disappear one by one. the kibbutz, Hebrew word for collective, was a sort of village for members only, where the values of equality and socialism were the dogma for everyday life. with the change in social values with time, it seems now that the kibbutz was a place where the human spirit was repressed, locked within the dogma rules, with no ticket out. the entrance of capitalist values and way of life in the 90's and so far made it very hard on the kibbutzim to survive. the crazy mother in the film is the central metaphor for that.

But, I regard this film as having nothing to do with nostalgia for the good old days of the kibbutz. once, it was a dream of every young couple to live in a kibbutz and raise children in this quite and beautiful environment. but the film shows the opposite. that the kibbutz, with it's socialist dogma, was a place sort of like a cult of crazy people, with crazy ideas that undermine the freedom of each individual within the collective. this is the central philosophy of post modern capitalism: your individuality is the most important thing. you must place yourself in the center, and no one else but you is the matter. this is the philosophy the film stands for, and that's just it's first sin.

If you disagree with me on the political side, I'm sure you will agree that the acting, the tone of the film, it's script and it's direction are the four sins that follow. the film has no real visual text and none of it's shots is something to remember. it is also very "delicate", a delicacy that is no more than artsy fartsy attempt to provoke emotions, which do not surface, not in the film and not with the viewer. it brings nothing but boredom.

Can someone please explain: why this film won so many prizes? maybe because it shows that Israel is in line with the rest of the world, hating socialist and human values? or maybe it shows that Israel is a "delicate" place, not giving in to dogmas and fanaticism? that we are basically very human and good people, capable of emotions, especially when they are fake ones, just like capitalism expects us to be? or maybe because it tells one of the biggest lies of Israeli cinema in recent years, a lie that undermines the justification of the existence of the Jewish state? no matter what the answer is, it's not a good one. not for the world, not for human values and not for the Jews.