estherasharon

A masterpiece and must-see for a peek into the world of Mental Health.

Not an easy task to expose one's life - chapeau to Lior Dayan and to his REAL eemah/mother Caroline Langford who bravely plays HERSELF. How "normal" is THAT?! Son and mother making peace. And from such a family - of the Moshe Dayan dynasty, of the beloved and troubled Asi Dayan who we didn't understand in those days but loved/admired him as he was.

A must-see for amazing writing, acting, directing - and especially for seeing what NORMAL really looks like.

Watch it more than once.

Fun fact: Rami Heuberger is playing Assi Dayan - he played Assi's father MOSHE Dayan in the Brit-American movie Golda.

This series goes deeper than a comjng of age story, which actually is the subplot IMHO. The writer actually created a fine web of all levels of realtionships and of the good in every bad.

I don't do coming of age stories, so I was skeptical about watching this but the reviews were so positive.

I wasn't disappointed.

The acting was so fine-tuned, especially the way all the actors interacted so naturally that it almost felt like a reality show.

FIRST MENTION: SIMON BAKER. Sure, the kid, Felix Cameron stole the show. But Simon Baker deserves best actor award. I have never liked Simon Baker, found him bland and American. Who new he's an Aussie? OMG he blew me away. His depiction of Robert was stunningly low-key and moves you from complete disdain to utter loveability. I bet Simon Baker even surprised his director with how he presented Robert. Abosolutely stunning performance.

And so goes the writing, transitioning between hate and like and love, good and bad. Alcoholics and drug addicts are unquestionably loveable and forgiveable and redeeming, and this is an important point.

At first I thought: Oy, another tv series about "white trash", then quickly thought to myself: shut your supremist judgemental trap: These are real people with real problems, big ones. Watch and see how they deal with them, try to think how they got there.

All the characters, including the boys, are dealing with post trauma, which in the '80's was misunderstood, as was substance abuse. The writer and director, and the actors with their very fine talents, present very broken people, a very broken family, who love each other unbendingly.

Poppy, the school councelor - you're sure she'll have the boys removed from their parents, but watch Poppy's facial performance. Wow. And the truent officer as well - very well done!

Interesting thread of Eli and his penpal. Watch for it carefully. Their relationship is healing.

I had to keep on subtitles as the charming Aussie accents and slang are charming, but hard for an American.

The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly.

All the actors are really spectacular, every single one.

Shababnikim aka The New Black (referring to the men's attire) is a raucously funny and clever comdram, even romcom. It's an endearing peek into what to most of us is the mysterious world of the Ultra-Orthodox Jews. Without dwelling, it presents the friction between the ethnic Ashkenazi and Sphardi groups, between the young and the old, the variety of religious streams, the religious and the secular; not an easy task, and the creators aced it.

How to translate the slang word "shababnik"? Maybe rascally. Yes, these young men are rascals, a tad off track and finding their paths.

I love how they so glibly quote The Sages in relevant situations. It's so adorable.

The funky music, and the romantic music are wonderful. I want to find the soundrack.

And the matchmaking, the pressure to find just the right wife and husband are also presented endearingly and delightfully. So you find out that the whole matchmaking scene of the ultra religious is not as stringent or coercive as you may have thought.

The actors (men and women) are just impeccable.

The character development of each one is brilliant. Of course the unexpected favorite is Gdaliah, who seems to be such a neurotic nerd, but his strong belief is his and everyone's moral compass. The actor Ori Laizerouvich, who I'd seen but never noticed before, is Jerry Lewis type. He has me in stiches.

Maya Wertheimer is just precious with her character Dvorahm the feisty feminist Haredit (Ultra-Orthodox) young woman, intent on finding the right match.

Guri Alfi, so out of character, is brilliant. Rotem Keinan plays good and evil like I've never seen him before. Our beloved Dov Navon, also out of character, is perfect. Same goes for Israel Atias, very versatile young man.

Very talented creators/directors Eliran Malka (I believe that for him, this was a labor of love), and Daniel Paran, did a great job collaborating on this entertaining materpiece.

I can't recommend this series enough for good laughs and a sneak peek into this enriched world. Thank you Netflix for including the first season. Looking forward to the second season for sure!