Aviva Ahuvati

The film summary wrote: "But the journey to greatness effects her life and the lives of her family - her unemployed husband, her trouble children, her unstable mother, and primarily her sister".

I cannot disagree strongly enough. Her journey to greatness was stymied at every point by a lazy husband and children, and disturbed parents, sister and brother in law. But this was never the result of Aviva's own actions. She worked a long day job, ran the household, visited her parents, supported her sister and wrote when she could. Aviva's journey, successful or otherwise, was through her own heroic effort.

There were some really funny lines. I wish the English sub titles were more accurate.

I finally rented it. As the other commenter mentioned, it was received very well here in Israel. That just says how flat our industry is. Anything not terrible is great.

The movie was very predictable, had too many characters, and just didn't say anything new. The characters seemed taken out of a catalog of stereotypes.

I'll admit, I skipped about 30 minutes in the middle (gotta love DVDs!) just because it looked so predictable. Sure enough, as I continued the movie, everything seemed as expected.

It's not that it's bad, it's just that it's very average, and not deserving of the raves it received here.

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!

I found this movie largely disappointing. The main character is an Israeli woman trying to fulfill her dream by becoming a noted author but her dream is appropriated by the self-interest of her professional counselor Sound familiar? I sensed it was a re-telling of "Running With Scissors" from the mother's perspective: Mother wants to be a writer; dream stymied by professional adviser; gay son; dysfunctional family.

By telling the story from a woman's perspective, the male director allows himself to explore a feminist perspective. But is it truly feminist? As a male viewer, I was insulted by the depiction. All male characters, without exception, are weak and act like jerks. Isn't this the kind of stereotyping that the woman's movement found so offensive in its argument for equality. If the tables were turned and the movie was about a male protagonist stymied in his attempt for advancement by foolish females, woman would rightfully heap scorn on such a portrayal as sexist gibberish.

The ending seems contrived. Without being a spoiler I simply suggest the ending doesn't match the rest of the story.

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.