Tehilim

Tehilim received top prize in the Tokyo film ex. The jury conducted by Lee Chang Dong wrote the following statement : "The mysterious loss of the father of an average Israeli family brings to the fore a universal problem of today's world - the lack of orientation. It is left to the individual whether to see this as a human subject matter, an intimate story or a reflection of Israeli society today. It is told in a personal style, which - as world cinema- transgresses borders and religions.". The film indeed doesn't provide answers, it create a dialectical process made of questions. Tehilim is not only universal, its approach is unique integrating improvisation and great researches on location. Its simplicity is its strength, proposing a genuine renewal in film-making in Israel.

This film has no direction, no script, no good acting performances, no humour, no feeling and no humanity. The plot and storyline is totally ludicrous and unbelievable. In addition to this the film is incredibly badly made with appalling camera work, terrible lighting and sound, and looks like it wasn't edited properly. It really is an amateur attempt to made a film. It's an embarrassment to the people who made it and should never be shown in public. It certainly has no place in Israeli cinema, or in any cinema. After it ended we felt like we had totally wasted our time sitting watching it. I cannot say one good thing about this film.

Tehilim is a tale about a son dealing with a father's disappearance. it is also a very religious movie in this very sense, the father son relationship, or lack of it, resembles one's attempt to discover god in his life. faith and god are illusive elements and he who seeks redemption by finding one or both of them must endure some kind of suffering. in Tehilim, this suffer remains terribly untreated by the film's writers.

A documentary approach is taken by the director, which is somewhat subtle, but still voyeuristic enough to make us feel uncomfortable in front of some scenes. the main problem is, therefore, lack of real drama in the movie, and illogic occurrences that take place in some parts of the film. the strongest feeling that I had during watching it is "please, get to the point or finish." I don't want to write spoilers in this review, since the film debuts this week in Israel. I will only say that Tehilim is one of the strongest attempts ever made in Israel to make a truly religious work of art, but due to tragic screen writing failures this film is doomed to be an unfulfilled attempt. what a shame!

Tehilim is a great film, no question about it. It is a minute of examination of the different ways in which characters react to a crisis. Though the film is small in scale it is nothing short of riveting. At the end you realize that, though the distance traveled is very small and enormous amount has happened.

The lead actor, teen-aged Michael Moshonov, broods and lurks about the screen desperately searching for a focus for his anger at his vanished father. Truth seems to be Nadjari's motivation and he focuses his lens on the minutia of his characters' movements, revealing their inner struggles in a way reminiscent of Chekov. In a world overrun with films of artifice and manufactured drama it is so wonderful to discover a film that resists falsehoods and breathes truth.

Definitely look this film up and see it!

Cinema is a pleasant fiction. God is a useful elaboration of texts and emotions. Religion is a useful fiction, a construction on absence and death. The Talmud is a bushy bunch of burning questions, to explore or not, for the Talmud is keen on democracy and freedom of speech. Contrary to formal logic, TEHILIM begins with answers, then makes way for questions, or rather the characters are living questions who touch one another sometimes, even hug when mother gives a cuddle to son. TEHILIM also turns us moviegoers into uncomfortably seated questions. TEHILIM is a short story, not a novel, which sails at full speed from illusion to allusion. TEHILIM is a beautiful tale, a silent movie of sorts, for us to make use of.