Sainte Clara

On the surface, Saint Clara presents itself as a clever and amusing dystopian look at modern society. The central characters inhabit a town of featureless block buildings and deserted streets. Golda Meir High seems to be completely empty except for the principal, one teacher, and one class. And the TV in all the houses are tuned to the same show, in which a wild haired woman makes cryptic prophecies of doom and destruction.

Underneath all of this, however, is a traditional folk tale of an alienated young boy who falls in love and makes his peace with society. The boy, the town, and you the viewer learn just how unimportant are things like fame, fortune, and power. And all along the way you are entertained with tales of magic and humorous anecdotes. Long ago, this is the type of tale with which a traveling minstrel would have held your fascination. Remove the post-apocalyptic stylizations and this becomes very reminiscent of the early stories of Isaac B. Singer, which I assume are themselves done in the style of traditional Yiddish folk tales.

Don't be put off by the idea of having to sit through a moral lesson; the movie is never didactic or preachy. When you finally see the lesson at the end, it just makes the characters seem that much real and the stories that much more entertaining. This is a short and not particularly ambitious movie, but it succeeds completely in those things which it does set out to accomplish.

After stumbling upon this movie, it has turned into one of my favorites. Despite the subscripts it was still able to capture me. Almost as if I knew the language. Grant it, it's about children, but thats the beauty of it. The fact that she's magical or whatever is just a surface texture, the deeper meaning and feeling this movie brings out, is what really struck me. I urge anyone who hasnt seen it, to see it, and anyone who has, I would like to know if you agree with me. This movie happened to have a very powerful effect on me, and I think its brilliant.

I can't figure out if people are deliberately ignoring this movie or if they just don't get it. Frankly, I don't know if *I* get this crazy little fable about love, belonging, & identity.

Young Clara is unbelievably brilliant, and extraordinarily magical - literally - which is not necessarily a bonus at Golda MeirJunior High, which looks like post-apocalyptic public schooling even if I don't know much about Israel's educational system. Taunted by the "cool boys," who also use her to cheat on tests, Clara quickly becomes the object of the affection of one of them. What follows is stylized, visually exciting, and pretty damn cool, as Clara learns that it's love that will eventually deprive her of her super-powers. Oh, the end of the world is hinted at as well.

There's nothing specifically Israel or Jewish-oriented about this film, except the setting (unless I am missing something - a subtext?), and to me that's why it works. The directors make style a priority and the young actors (as well as the fabulous nutjob that plays Uncle Elvis) fare far better in the sincerity and believability department than any American actors. There's a human-centered element that makes this very easy to grab onto and hold.

A wonderful movie.

I enjoyed this movie very much. I did not understand much of the movie. I am not sure if this is the way kids act in Israel and if that is the way the education system works or not. I saw the movie on TV with the name of "Saint Clara".

I enjoyed the movie and the love story and the interesting weird people in the movie. It made me wonder about some of the things that were said during the movie. I guess the same way people outside of the U. S. must wonder about things said and done in American movies.

Watching this I was thinking about the movie "Tin Drum" (Die Blechtrommel) and wishing there was someone watching it with me that after the movie was over could tell me what in the hell it was all about.

Maybe it is better sometimes to NOT know what the author or director was trying to say...Because I did enjoy the movie and hope to see it again on TV.

I saw Saint Clara in Toronto during the Toronto Film Festival in 1997. It was at a theatre not part of the festival at the time but it felt like it could have been (perhaps it was the year before). As others have said, it had an odd, bleak, futuristic look and feel about it but was enjoyable none the less. I would love to find the DVD or tape so I could see it again. Bernie