RESTLESS
Israel, 2008, 100 minutes, Colour.
Moshi Ivgy, Ran Danker, Karen Young, Phyllis Somerville.
Directed by Amos Kollek.
The films of Amos Kollek, which sometimes veer between Israel and New York, between Hebrew and English, can be tough. This one is. It is also a 2007 view on Israel and Israelis in the Middle East, highlighting what he sses as a confusion of identity in recent years. And he makes this confusion apply to Jews as well who have spent years in the US and to the younger generation in Israel.
As with so many directors of Israeli films, they are against hardline Zionism, pro a more secular culture and lifestyle in their faith and are prone to offer images of mutual humanity with their ‘enemies’, especially Palestinians. There is a questioning of the political heritage and the status quo. This is part of being ‘restless’.
Restless is an interesting drama, sharply written, sympathetically played, even for characters who would try the endurance of Job in real life.
At the centre is Moshe (Moshe Ivgy), a middle-aged Jew, born in Morocco (and more than adept in making Moroccan soup), educated in Israel, who married a Polish wife and, restless and not ready for married life or fatherhood, abandoned them and made his way to New York, eking out a lonely life by deals and by busking sales in the streets, not paying his rent, being abusive to friends and foes, drinking, womanising, surviving.
He would like to be a stand-up comic and gets the opportunity in a friend’s bar with his badly rhyming poems and his sardonic remarks that question Jewish assumptions. He even persuades the tough manager of the bar (Karen Young) that he is worth considering.
When Moshe’s wife dies, his son (Ran Danker), a crack sniper in the army, discovers Moshe’s address. He is advised to leave the army because he is so angry and uptight. He decides to confront his unknown father in New York.
The film does not take easy ways out but it is not without hope.
1.Amos Kollek and his long career? His affection for Israel? His critique? His love for New York, at home in New York? Jews in the United States?
2.The New York locations, the streets, apartments, the bars, selling on the streets? The American-style score?
3.Israel, the military background, the landscapes, the work of the sniper, the roads and roadblocks? The Israeli score?
4.The title, Moshi, the introduction to his character, age, the deals, failures, his being bashed, not paying his rent? A man of attitude, restless? The background of his life, Morocco (and his ……??? in soup), training in Israel, marrying, feeling constricted, not wanting to be a parent, leaving, not having any contact, the letters returned? His sexual life, picking up women? No fixed compass in his life?
5.Selling on the streets, the belly-dancer, exploitation? Faking the photos of the rabbi? At the bar, Yolande, her spurning him, her tough attitude, the owner, friendship, asking him to perform, the clientele? His wanting to be a stand-up comic? The performance, his becoming a hit? The contents of his poems, Israeli identity, confusion, Israel itself, loss of purpose, materialistic? Israel in the past, contemporary, the Jews in New York?
6.Tsach, his mother’s death, the effect on him, the makeup and the dress? His military life, seeing his skill as a sniper? Hypertense? His friends, their giving advice, his being ordered out? His leaving, walking up the road, the decision to go to New York? His mother’s things, discovering the address, a life of anger at his father? The phone calls?
7.Yolande, her military background, tough, managing the bar, love for her son, the clashes with Moshi, his paying attention to her, her listening to the poetry, the performance, softening in her attitude, his waiting for her, the flowers, going home, the meal and the son, her sympathy, listening, the possibilities for a future?
8.The military man as a guest in the bar, arms deals? His hold over the owner? Ownership of the bar, partnerships? Attitude towards Moshi? The owner and his friendship, Moshi’s last performance, the reaction of the clients, success?
9.Tsach, his arrival, coping in New York, apartment, encountering the military man at the bar, the offer of a job as a bodyguard?
10.The confrontation with his father, meeting Yolande, the anger of the past, his mother’s suicide, his not being reading to reconcile with his father? Moshi, acknowledging the abandonment, his sense of wonder, anger, trying to be real for his son? Did they have a future in terms of father-son relationship?
