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Movies Forum Index » Movie Reviews Forum » Review: Jellyfish (2007)
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| Mark R. Leeper |
 Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:57 pm |
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JELLYFISH
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Three intertwined stories of three women
in Tel Aviv make for an effective, short, and
economical piece of filmmaking. We get a mix of
comedy, tragedy, and some mysticism. The stories
are strange and offbeat and just matter-of-factly
seem to drift into magical realism. Respected
short-story writer Etgar Karat co-directs with
scriptwriter Shira Geffen. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4)
or 6/10
Three dramas about three women take place in Tel Aviv in this
film. Each story lightly touches the other two, but wends its
own way. Batya (played by Sarah Adler) is a waitress at a
somewhat sleazy catered banquet hall. We see her in the days
after losing her boy friend and her job is not going well. The
managers are nasty, the food preparation not very clean. Batya
herself is tightly bound to her own unpleasant past. But then,
as if to take her out of herself, a young girl in a swim ring
comes out of the sea. The little girl has no parents around and
seems to have come out of nowhere. She also has a strange
unworldly air about her. Batya wants to help the mysterious
little girl find her family, but that will be harder than she
thinks. Keren (Noa Knoller) had a wedding reception was at the
same bad banquet hall where Batya worked. For her life is
beautiful and she is ready for her honeymoon. Then she finds
herself locked in a restroom stall and has to climb out, breaking
her leg in the process. This destroys her honeymoon plans. Her
new husband wants to find her a nice hotel in Tel Aviv, but one
room after another is just not very good. To make matters worse,
the hotel they choose does have a nice suite, but there is a
woman staying in it and Keren's new husband seems to take an
interest in the woman that Keren finds uncomfortable. In the
third strand, the joyless Joy (Ma-Nenenita De Latorre) is in
Israel trying to find work, but her heart is back at home in the
Philippines with her son. She is looking for a job caring for
babies where her lack of Hebrew language will not matter, but the
employment office keeps giving her elderly and unpleasant women
to care for. Making matters worse she speaks some English and
her own language from home, but none of the women speak either
language.
Each of these women is having an unpleasant time. They are not
in control of their lives but are buffeted by the currents of
chance like ocean currents buffet jellyfish. Their lives will
each somehow connect with the magical renewing power of the sea.
Co-director Etgar Keret has an international reputation as a
short story writer. His stories are bizarre and frequently
enigmatic and that is the style of this film. There are threads
that seem to wind through the film, but do not add up to much.
There is a charity drive going on and seems to touch all three
stories, but that thread never seems to go anywhere.
The production values of JELLYFISH can best be described as
sufficient. The photography is not highly polished. It is not a
work of art. But it gets the job done. JELLYFISH may not be an
easy film to find. It is not the kind of film that one generally
sees even the art house circuit. Currently it is playing at film
festivals where it is picking up prizes.
This is a calm, gentle, yet pointed little film with strong
characters. The viewer is not always sure he understands what is
being said, but the overall effect is pleasant. I rate JELLYFISH
a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 6/10.
Film Credits: <http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0807721/>
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2008 Mark R. Leeper |
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