Shivá - Uma Semana e Um Dia

"A week and a Day" is Asaph Polonsky's first feature film and tries to combine drama with humour, levity and death. It does so successfully and warmed the crowd in Montreal where it received deserved praise. It deals with a tough subject, arguably the greatest loss, done slightly better and with more bitterness in 2001 with "In the Bedroom" and "Lantana". "Rabbit Hole" (2010) was also riveting, but "A week and a Day" (2016) is superior to more recent, yet good and critically acclaimed "The Broken Circle Breakdown" (2012) and very different than all the others and succeeds in a change of perspective and cinematic catharsis.

An only child has died from cancer and the parents sit Shiva when the neighbours come to express their wishes. The mother and father react differently in their grieving process and the neighours and their son come to be an important part of a difficult road back to the light.

Quirky and endearing, this tale, like its characters, matures from off beat to the right beat. The last 20 minutes are sublime and include an eulogy with effective editing. This eulogy as I would later learn asking a question to the director during the Q&A is a modified version of Polonsky's real father who wrote it for his sister and is very poignant and the center of the movie even if it comes very late. It is worth the wait and the voyage. As for the eccentric neighbour's son who knew the deceased and played together as youth and a little girl cancer patient who knew him in his dying days, their love for life and imagination make for two memorable scenes of air guitar playing and phantom operation…

All the characters create the mosaic of life to be cherished instead of remaining miserable, malcontent and bitter. Even the mom who's dentist appointment is the saddest one has ever experienced finds joy and solace in herself and the arms of her husband who loves her and forgives himself.

Very poignant and effective film-making here. I wish the best to this young writer/director who should shoot his next feature in Canada's West Coast if all goes well.

Israel 2016| 98 min | Festival du Nouveau Cinema | Hebrew (English subtitles)

The plot says it is a serious subject, but the film was fun. Not fun as you would laugh out loud, though that's how the characters behaves. As seen the whole film, I thought it was similar to the 'Sweet Bean'. Not thematically, but the characteristically. They did not balance on that, because clearly that was not an intention. It's only I saw that, which should have been explored much better possible way.

You might wonder what is that! Actually, it was three generations. A kid, a young man and a pretty close to be an old man. But it was that old man's tale. That's how it all begins and ends too. He had lost his son and now it is a week of mourning time. At the end of the formal, that's where our tale begins by avoiding the emotional parts. A good initiation.

Seems he is approaching a different tactic to cope with the loss. Suddenly his behaviour has changed. Not being polite with everyone around him, particularly his neighbour couple with a reason. But their young son joins him, together they set to break the rules and do some crazy stuffs. At the last moment, a kid joins them and it all turns out their greatest day of adventure. All the fun has an ending, so how does it concludes was told with a little dramatic.

❝The fact that you can't see it does not mean it does not exist. You're just not open minded enough.❞

I have seen many films about coping with the deaths. Some of them were unique, some were not. This was a familiar one, except all the events were set in a different atmosphere, like culture and society. It is people's nature, tend to do opposite when they are not ready for it or forced to do. This father did not intentionally took that alternative route. It was a chain of events, he just sailed from one to another, only to realise where and how far he had come.

More or less, like a self-discovery. Rediscovering the life to live for. Some time emotions take us to unexpected destinations. But once it was released, the reality eyes open, to look forward in the remaining life. So this film was not an ideal film for everybody who are in the same situation. But it gives a different opinion. I liked the actors, all the main ones. The music was so good. It was one of the main ingredients of the film, made everything look better. Particularly in the transition sections between the events and the characters.

Don't remember what was my last Hebrew film, but it was a good one, had a nice time. The developments, how the plots were extended is not going to satisfy all who watches the film. Because some viewers might expect a totally fun, with or without logic. But some look for the value it teaches, morale, message et cetera. Frankly, this film was none of those. But it was also all of those with less highlighting them. Better than the average, and below the awesomeness, surely a worthy film that some people would find it good.

7/10

I am tempted to write a long explanation and analysis of this incredible film, but a previous reviewer has done so already. To give too much away is to spoil the experience that can simply be described as an off-the-wall treatment of a tragedy. The film portrays a married couple who lost their son to cancer, and how they handle life once shiva (the week-long tradition of mourning the dead in the Jewish religion) is over. The father seems to be deeply depressed and looks for connection by hanging out with his son's friend who lives next door. The mother, a teacher who returns to teach school and is sent right back home, seems to be in shock throughout most of the film. On paper, this might read like a downbeat film, and it is anything but. It is quite hilarious. The father returns to the hospice where his son died to rescue a packet of medical marijuana and cannot role a joint. The son's friend rolls one in seconds and they both get high. There are also many poignant moments when these two visit with a young girl whose mother is at the hospice. All of the elements of comedy and drama are beautifully balanced. There is not one misstep in the story, dialogue or pacing of the film; one wants it to go on much longer than it does. The acting is uniformly excellent, and Polonsky uses widescreen beautifully to enhance the emotional back and forth of the events he films. I told Polonsky that he has a great gift. I saw this film several days ago, and it is still with me. I was delighted to see that the film will be released on video and streamed in the U.S. once it makes the rounds of the film festivals. It is the kind of movie where one can see new things with every viewing, and I can't wait to see it again.

They say that a drunk scene is often a sign that the scriptwriter didn't have the skill to make the characters show their inner traits and feelings in the course of normal activity. So what about a film where the main character is stoned throughout? What's odd about _Shavua ve Yom_ is that the character, a recently bereaved father, is supposed to be grief-stricken and could be forgiven for pretty much all his odd behavior anyway on that basis. But the industry has a weakness for movies that show older people behaving in a way that doesn't befit their age-- robbing banks, pursuing once- forgotten dreams, what have you. It's a gimmick, a double gimmick in this case (stoned, and too old to be a stoner), and for too much of the movie it takes the place of a plot. There is no great threat or quest to drive the action forward, and although there are quirky details and sudden gags, they don't come thick and fast enough to keep up a momentum. No one told the actors they were in an uninteresting movie, though, and they chalked up national Best Actor and Best Actress nominations, with a win for Best Supporting Actor. There were also Best Director, Best Editing, and-- what's this?-- Best Screenplay nominations. Well, there were touches of Best Screenplay quality, but gaps between them too.