Mita Tova

I'd like to give this movie a 10 for acting and a 2 for content, because it weighs in on the side of euthanasia, with humor and sentimentality, and euthanasia is a treacherously slippery slope. Who should be more aware of what can happen when society starts ending lives deemed not worth living than the Jewish Israelis who made this movie and the Germans, of all people, who godfathered it? But to give the movie its due, it includes fine acting, including many dynamic and demanding close-ups, from Ze'ev Revach, Levana Finkelstein, and the other major players. Revach won Israel's annual Best Actor award for this role, and the angelic Finkelstein, portraying a woman with incipient Alzheimer's, was unjustly passed over for Best Actress in favor of the colorless but personally popular Dana Ivgy. The movie also won awards for its cinematography (which, it's been complained, makes sheltered housing look too attractive) and for its soundtrack.

In Jerusalem, Yehezkel (Ze'ev Revach) and Levana (Levana Finkelshtein) live in a retirement home with other elders, including their friends Max (Samuel Wolf) and Yana (Aliza Rosen). Max is terminal, using morphine to release the pain and wishes to die. Yana presses his best friend Yehezkel to kill him. After many insistences, he builds a self-euthanasia machine to finish the pain of his friend. He invites the gay veterinarian Dr. Daniel (Ilan Dar) and his partner, the anesthetist Raffi Segal (Rafi Tabor), to dose the drugs in the machine and Max kills himself. Out of the blue, there are rumors in the home about the machine and Carmon (Josef Carmon) blackmails the group to let his wife, who is also terminal and with pain, use the machine. Meanwhile, Levana shows symptoms of dementia and her daughter Noa (Hilla Surjon) and the administrator of the home, Ziva (Idit Teperson), want to transfer her to another home with facility for mentally ill elders. But Yehezkel is reluctant to let his beloved wife go to another place.

"Mita Tova", a.k.a. "The Farewell Party", is a great film about a practice that is forbidden in most countries, the euthanasia. Like abortion, many countries have laws not allowing the patients or the women decide about their bodies. "Mita Tova" gives a sensitive approach, alleviating with some jokes along the film. For example, Yehezkel playing God to Zelda (Ruth Geller) in the beginning is very funny. Or driving his car and stopped by the police officer twice. But the film is a drama and never a comedy, with outstanding performances of the veteran unknown cast. "Party", in English, has several meanings, but in Portuguese is different: For example, party (social gathering) is "festa"; party (political group) is "partido"; party (group) is "grupo". Therefore, translators must be careful since in this title, the pun does not make sense in Portuguese. Instead of translating "O Grupo de Despedida", the translator called the movie "A Festa de Despedida", which does not make any sense for the theme of the film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Festa de Despedida" ("The Farewell Party")

It's not your everyday hero VS villain type of film, it's different, and it's probably not for everyone. It's hard to watch, both because of the delicate nature of the subject it's about and because most of the characters are hard to fall for, but once you manage to ignore it, you're in for a treat.

It touches some of the ugliest parts of one of the ugliest topics in our lives, that is getting old, and manage to do it with creativity and lightheartedness that I didn't expect. It made me sad and happy, all at the same time, and if you're into this sort of films, you won't regret watching it.

The directing was awesome, the cameraman as well. Also great performances by Aliza Rozen and Ze'ev Revach. Sorry for English mistakes.

There are not many films that will make me ponder about my mortality. Sitting in the old- school cinema of The Projector last night, I think only Departures (2008) made me do that. About what exactly? About whether my life journey up to that point has yielded dividends in terms of significant milestones and character building; about whether I have laid the path ahead of me; about whether I have enriched my own life so that I can enrich others who crossed my path; about my legacy. Departures changed my life. Since then no other films have come along to make me contemplate the deeper aspects of my mortality. That is until last night.

The Farewell Party (2014) opened the Israeli Film Festival here and what a film it was. I found myself laughing so hard at the antics and ideas, but I think I got ahead of myself here. The story is about a group of old friends living in a retirement home for old folks. Life is hard when they see their friends slowly dying from debilitating diseases. So a tinkerer tinkers out a self-euthanising machine to put the choice of life or death in the hands of terminally ill patients. Soon the rumours of the machine spread and more people ask for their help. The group of friends are now faced with a life and death dilemma.

I think this gem of a film is what it means to laugh in the face of death. From the get go scene of a woman getting a phone call from God, me and my friends and a near full-house audience were laughing till our sides hurt. This is not rude humour of the Hollywood kind but sensitive and compassionate. By tackling the difficult theme of euthanasia through comedy, it provides a way into a labyrinthine can of worms. It feels real and genuine, not made up to gain sympathies. The tone is deftly maintained from the first scene to the last with nary a misstep. Nothing is overcooked; everything timed perfectly. It is warm and comforting; like snuggling underneath a warm blanket with your significant other in cold weather. There is joy coupled with deep sadness. Get ready to laugh through streaming tears.

The writing is marvellous and effortless in a sense that the two writer-directors must have written this from a deep place of hurts but yet it doesn't want to wring your emotions dry. It rises above the common denominator and glides from scene to scene like an angel on wings. It is thorough but never exhausting. It dares to ask hard questions but never forces its ideas down your throat. Get ready to debate after the movie because you will want to. The acting by the ensemble cast is amazing. Watch out for a scene in which they wear nothing just to cheer a friend up. The exquisite balancing act is sheer masterclass. Not many directors would be able this pull it off and I think you really need to be an amazing human being to be able to do this, and we got two here.

Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon were there last night with an illuminating post-film discussion. Their talk was candid, heartfelt and they shared from a deep place. I had a chance to talk to them later about a scene in which the actors did a song number that felt like the only misstep for me and you know what... their explanation convinced me it wasn't. Love the film; love them.

This movie has brought be to tears - which is extremely unusual for me.

Going through a similar process with my late father, I can say that the movie is very accurate.

Such an amazing mixture of laughter and tears. So real, and so different from the run-of-the- mill, dime-a-dozen, Hollywood films. The kind of movie that provides you with real food for thought and a long lasting impression.

I was greatly impressed by the very high quality of acting, direction, editing and cinematography, which is rare in the Israeli films landscape.

I would most definitely rate is the best movie I've seen the past year.