Devarim
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amos Gitai, Assi Dayan, Azaria Rappaport, Menahem Golan, Sharon HacohenCinematographer: Renato Berta
Composer: Uri Ophir
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Hebrew (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kino Video
Movie Reviews of Devarim
Movie Review: "Even Dostoyevsky Only Lived Once" ~ Life, Death, God And Suicide As The Ultimate Act Of Freedom
Summary: 3 Stars
Note: Hebrew with English subtitles.
Synopsis: The '95 Israeli film `Devarim' (meaning: memory of things) is the first of three by writer/director/actor Amos Gita, (followed by `Yom Yom' '98 and `Kadosh' '99) which comprise his City Trilogy. The story unfolds in contemporary Tel Aviv focusing on three disillusioned, thirty-something friends; Cesar (played by Assi Dayan, son of the legendary Moshe Dayan), a moderately successful photographer and woman chaser, Israel (Amos Schub), an underachieving pianist and Goldman (Amos Gita), your everyday mama's boy. When Goldman's Father dies the three men wake up to the reality that life is temporary and death eventually awaits us all. Soon there life paths are laid bare in this onslaught of newly obtained self-awareness and how they have been spending their time and energy come into question. Will they discover their path to fulfillment and meaning or are they doomed to continue just going through the motions?
Critique: On the back cover of the DVD case this film is described as a "moody portrait of Israel's `lost generation'" and indeed it is just that. There is a pervading feeling of oppression and futility here that is immediately discernible from the very first moment and continues unmercifully to the end. The story unfolds slowly, beginning one hot, sweltering summer's day in Tel Aviv where three men appear to live in a state of constant uncertainty, agitation and depression. Every word spoken, every action performed seems to be an automatic, unconscious response that is unconnected to personal thought or human emotion. They're just going through the motions of living while never partaking; working without experiencing a call to vocation, conversing without relating and having sex without loving. Theirs is a life of smoke and mirrors, as Goldman suggests in one pertinent conversation, the unconscious embracing of the "little death" in preparation for the "big death" to follow
What I personally found intriguing was the first hand insight the film provided into the mindset of the non-religious Jew living in a land trapped in a constant state of emergency. What must it be like to live in a land surrounded by militant enemies who want to destroy you? A place where military service is mandatory and death at the hands of a suicide bomber can happen at anytime. While the religious residents of Israel may be able to deal with the situation by a worldview that envisions it to be all a part of God's ultimate plan what about those without religious faith to cling to? Surely it must be akin to living in a pressure cooker and that concept of impending doom and futility exudes from this film.
A fascinating subtext to the storyline was a rather long, philosophical discussion between Goldman and his Mother in the second half of the film. The conversation dealt with belief in God and atheism, suffering and death and finally personal freedom and the right to choose what one does with life. Goldman comes to the conclusion that committing suicide is the ultimate act one can perform to demonstrate that the individual can do with their life what they will. I found this to be a most revealing conclusion to come to by a non-religious Israeli who has spent his entire life in the shadow of Arabs making just that choice. For me that conversation provided an amazing glimpse into the psyche of the contemporary Israeli that made the film worth the time and effort.
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