Antarctica

Unclear as to why Israel has such a repertoire of gay films, but they all seem to have one thing in common: a very conceited, shallow, self-centered protagonist. In this case, the writer attempts to have the hedonistic protagonist come off as having a "heart" or soft-spot, when he allows an old "fling" (who was apparently the first guy the young lad had ever hooked up with) stay with him. The dialogue is pretty meaningless, but as they say in Hebrew, "it sounds funnier in Yiddish". But mostly, the film is just a bunch of blurry fast-paced sex-scenes with hairy Jewish men. If that's your thing, then this is the film for you.

I just saw this film in the Philadelphia gay and lesbian film festival. I thought it was a pretty decent movie.

The film starts with a guy bringing different men every night in his apartment. Every man has shown to be with some peculiar features. After first five minutes the film moves 3 years and starts showing life of few people in the city of Tel Aviv some of whom eventually turn out to be men whom this character sleeps with. Omer, a young guy soon to turn 30 works as a librarian and is looking for his love. He meets Danny for a blind date which goes well but he thinks that Danny is too young for him. Danny lives with Ronen, his ex-boyfriend who is a journalist and often visits the library. Omer and Ronen have noticed each other. Then we have Shirley, Omer's little sister. Aside from being Omer's greatest annoyance, she is in an unconventional relationship with, Michal, owner of the city's hippest coffeehouse and her boss. She breaks u her wedding with Michal at the last moment because she wants to travel the world specially Antarctica. Omer's best friend goes on a date with Ronen and have god time and sex. One day in library Ronen invite Omer to go with him to a meeting They realize that they have lots in common with each other but cant do anything about it. Finally the day comes when Omer's mother invites Omer, Shirley, Michal and Omer's friend for his birthday. His friend invites along Ronen and thats where Omer and Ronen realize that they are meant for each other. There are some side stories about Danny, his 3 year old hook up and now his dance instructor and about a crazy writer who believes that aliens talk to her. The film ends with how some people win their love and how some people are just left alone.

The performances in the film were really good. I thought it was something different but the only problem was there were too many characters and their relationship with each other became confusing after a certain point. Ronen was very hot looking and Omer was like the boy next door. I thought he was cute to. The film was with good production values. Its hard to point any flaws in the movie but at the same time it did not make me clap for it.

Another time, another day, I might watch it again.

I had pretty high expectations of this movie after reading a very short synopsis; I really like ensemble movies and 'Antarctica' being a gay movie and from Israel added to the attraction (I see a lot of Hollywood movies as well). I came out pretty disappointed.

There was very little story in this and hardly any substance. I found it rather shallow while the premise was full of possibilities for an engrossing film. There is great potential in ensemble movies but only when a director and/or a writer know what to do with it… clearly in this case there could have been much more of a plot if the writer had left out a couple of characters and had focused on the remaining ones for some depth and background.

I am somebody who enjoys striking images - by which I do not mean pictures of sunsets and lavish homes, but images that, whether they are pretty of ugly, enhance the story - but there was no beauty at all to be found in this movie. I am not referring to the cast because some of them were actually rather handsome, but the sets: apartments, kitchens, streets, surroundings… nothing spoke to me. It looked like nobody had been hired for cinematography. Now I am aware of the budget factor but there is a big gap between lush Hollywood sets and cramped TL-lit spaces. From where I was sitting a little more attention to imagery would not have distracted from the story; it would probably have enhanced it.

But the one thing I could not get over was the casting of the character 'Omer's Mother'. This person was so ridiculously out of place that it hurt. I sincerely wonder what the deal was here because I cannot believe that any casting director who takes themselves seriously would voluntarily cast this character the way it was done, destroying any credibility the movie had to begin with.

'Antarctica' in my view is mediocre at best, I give it 5 out of 10.

Life is full of metaphors and this is a great interpretation. A romantic tale, a love of fantasy and could have beens............... I really enjoyed this movie. It was engaging and had me hooked from the start. It was hot and the mirrors started to steam as i was introduced to the characters, satisfied with the pornesque start i didn't much care for content. The shots and the arrangement of images would have satisfied me for the entirety of the movie. But little did i know that i was just watching the caterpillar before the butterfly. The process is the movie. Well done to the director and the actors to a collage of beauty. "No matter how big the world is from a village to a city of millions you live within the same shell with the same circumference."

i always enjoy watching foreign films, it is fascinating to watch people in other countries live and love.

i think that this gay film is one of the best. i saw the unrated version, so at the beginning, it felt like a hot gay porn. three years later, the film returned to "normal." unlike some other gay films with weak stories, bad actors, etc, this film has an riveting storyline, and good actors. it seems that the male actors are all gay, i wonder if they are gays in real life. because there were not afraid of doing any male to male actions.

and i have never watched a gay film from israel before, very fascinating. i truly enjoyed it. so i rated it a 9.