Jaffa (2009)

Imagine a film with an in depth story that will keep you guessing. Imagine a film that has exceptional acting and interesting characters. Imagine a film that is just as gritty as it is beautiful. Imagine Jaffa, one of the greatest films you will ever have the pleasure of seeing.Jaffa tells a remarkable story about a dysfunctional Israeli family that owns an automotive repair shop. The family's problems drive the story to places that you would never expect it to go. This is not a typical film at all. Just when you think you have it figured out, it throws a curve ball and leaves your jaw wide open. Jaffa is full of secrets, lies and betrayal that will keep you entertained until the credits roll.Think of all the elements that make a movie great. Jaffa has all of those elements maxed out. It's a must see film for anyone that likes movies. It's a masterpiece.

The title, Jaffa, gives us only a location. In the suburbs of Tel-Aviv, Jaffa is a place of biblical mention, there are some saying it is derived from the name Japheth, son of Noah. It currently has a mixed population, more than a third are Israeli Arabs. Keren Yedaya gifts us again a remarkable experience, presenting a difficult moral story from a neutral point of view, unbiased and yet strongly moving. The script is by Yedaya and Ben Porat, the cast is -as most Israeli movies-impeccable. Dana Ivgy, Ronit Elkabetz (an amazing bandwidth actress, "Late Marriage"2001 "The Band's visit"-2007), Ro'i Asaf, Mahmoud Shalaby give solidly credible performances. Whichever side of the story you may be, either the touching romance against all odds or the practical considerations of secular enmity, at the end you will reflect at length, and be enriched by this film. With precise timing and increasing emotional leverage, Yedaya mounts a gradual increase in tension, a catastrophe and then gives us more: the wonderful struggle within the future mother. Mali (Dana Ivgy) is caught between her family, her religion and her other family, the one she dreamed of creating... but she must tell her parents about the child's father. Scenes of great emotional intensity are shot in vignettes brimming with concealed pain... At the end of the film, the debate is far from close, but the hope, the child of both Israeli and Arab is something we have in front of us, unmistakenly. Great music by Shushan runs plangently through the end credits, rightly nominated to a Camera d'Or at Cannes film festival. Read my other reviews at: https://sites.google.com/site/dan4gabriel/home

For once let's just separate the politics from the movie reviews for once when reviewing titles from anywhere in the middle east or war zones. This is a typical love story as they are made all over the world and.... boy is it worth watching.When the spoiled and jealous son of Reuvens body shop/garage provokes one of the mechanics Toufik one time to many all lives involved are forced to change. Toufik and the daughter of the owner Mali have their own secrets and over time things can no longer be hidden.It's a solid love story, drama. Well acted, well done. No big political issues or statements here. Just a very solid drama, well told, well acted with likable characters. Thats good enough already without political statement.

If you ever thought dysfunctional families are only the stuff that American films are made of...guess again. 'Jaffa' is a sad tale of just such a dysfunctional family living in one of the oldest continuing sea port towns in Isreal,dating back to the Bronze age. It tells the story of the Wolf family. Reuven,the father of the brood,owns & operates a small garage that employs his son,Meir,a young man with a chip on his shoulder that's the size of the middle east,his daughter,Mali,who seems to be the invisible member of the family,Tawfig,an Arab,who is in love with Mali,and Tawfig's father. Osnat,who is the Mother of Meir & Mali,who is something of a control fanatic,runs the household with an iron hand. Meir harbors a bitter resentment to having to work in the garage,when he would rather just sit around,smoke cigarettes & drink coffee,as well as a hatred of Tawfig,and all Arabs in general. He is constantly arguing with his family & is always spoiling for a fight. When he picks a fight with Tawfig,and is accidentally killed in that fight,Tawfig ends up doing a nine year stretch in prison. Mali discovers she is three months pregnant with Tawfig's baby,and attempts to get an abortion. What transpires from here on is what the director calls an homage to Egyptian cinema (the plot line,or at least elements of it surely seems to be lifted from one of Oum Kalsoum's songs). Many hidden secrets are revealed,as well as tears shed. Keren Yedaya ('Or') directs & co writes the screenplay (with Ilia Ben Porat),with a flair for the occasional sojourn into soapsuds. Dana Ivgy is Mali,who turns in a bravura acting job. Ronit Elkabetz is her controlling mother,Osnat,in a role that just smacks of "not nice person". Moni Moshonov is Reuven, a brow beaten man who has had most of the man beaten out of him by his shrewish wife,Osnat,and who just shrugs his way thru life. Roy Assaf absolutely drips with contempt as Mali's younger brother,Meir,and Mahmoud Shalaby plays Mali's love interest,Tawfig. The rest of the splendid cast is rounded out by Hussein Yassin Mahajneh,Lily Ivgy, Zenabh Mahrab & Dalya Beger. If you enjoy a well written,directed & acted drama,look no further. Spoken in Hebrew & Arabic with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,this film contains outbursts of crude language,intimations of adult content (but nothing graphically depicted on screen),and a moment of sudden,bloody violence