Makom be-gan eden (2013) Reviews

• Madmony swings hard, and connects

  Nozz2014-03-05

  Because all Israeli movies must contend with low budgets, Israeli cinema tends to tell stories on a small scale. In contrast, A PLACE IN HEAVEN tries to attain a mythic scope in telling a modern story with Biblical echoes (rather like EAST OF EDEN), and surprisingly it succeeds. It can't incorporate a whole battlefront, but it manages to make one tank suffice. It uses vistas of open country to great advantage. It uses a generous roster of minor characters to suggest a richly conceived universe in which the story resonates. It shows action that spills past the edges of the screen. It has a script that unashamedly tackles big themes of generational continuity and karma, and actors who can sell the script. Madmony makes it all work without seeming affected, except maybe when he toys with turning the picture upside down.

• A Modern-Time Mythology

  ilania_a2014-08-07

  The film was screened at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Right from the start there is a link to biblical mythology. The story-line is moving and captivating. It is intricate, and laced with traditions, the clash between the religious and non-religious people in Israel, complex family relations, soldiers in battle, as well as the place of the Russian immigrants in society. The story is about an Israeli Captain in the army who cares for his soldiers and is admired by them. But the hero makes a big mistake … It is also a love story in which a war hero is willing to work for his loved-one's father, doing dirty work, for a whole year, to get permission to marry her. The importance of the "Kaddish" prayer traditionally said by a son, or a male member of the family, and the fact that not carrying out an old man's last request entails a punishment, gives the story a further mythological twist. The performance of the main Character played by Alon Aboutboul was superb. In fact the whole cast gave a good performance from start to finish.

• Way back to Ancient Myth

  ckdos22016-06-07

  Bambi an Israeli chief refuses to recognize his two first born daughters as having any value. He even goes as far as scathing his own wife, Ayala, by saying years after her death in childbirth that he's glad that she is not around because she would be an 'old hag' by now. Then Bambi lustily eyes his new, young, large breasted Russian lover who is mostly identified as 'just tits' by long, numerous close up frames that often neglect to show her face. Previously Bambi had demanded that Ayala keep trying to give him a son even though doctors told them that a third baby would probably kill her. No wonder Nimrod, this surviving grown son can't relate to women including his own wife who he called 'a whore' when they fought. Bambi finally realizes that he has damaged Nimrod with his own cruel chauvinism, but dismisses this final revelation when he again demands a replacement son from his Russian lover hoping that it's not a girl. After their deaths two adrift, fearful, lost old men, Bambi and the Holocaust survivor who purchased Bambi's place in heaven walk aimlessly toward heaven...or hell each carrying their own gender specific burdens. What I personally see beneath this story is a resurrection myth of the ancient female fertility Goddess Gaia, who was driven out of Israel by the male warrior hunting societies which are symbolized by Bambi. This warrior class destroyed Gaia's image and influence rather than let her continue with the myth of agricultural Earth Mother Goddess, growing plant seeds and heavenly births including valuable female children. 'A Place in Heaven' is the scene of a present day patriarchal nightmare because the gender specifics of weak macho men and weak submissive women makes you want to slap both of them in the face. A new day of equality is on the horizon in Israel because you can't take your gun with you into heaven. Rise up Gaia; the world needs peace.