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| Tehilim |
This moving drama from French-born Israeli director Raphael Nadjari (whose
Avanim was screened in 2004) achieved the rare and much-sought-after feat of being presented in the prestigious Official Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Set in Jerusalem's Orthodox community, the film tells of a family's coming to terms with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of the father, following a car accident. Haunted by loss but unable to properly mourn it, his surviving two sons and their mother are left to process and come to terms with the situation in their own different ways.
In a society often geared for wartime tragedy, support from friends and family seems more rote than sincere, even when the sons try to find a way to get their missing father back. From this fraught situation, Nadjari has created an unforgettable portrait of a family whose members are pulled apart, but also brought closer together.
Nadjari's direction is so smoothly accurate in every detail, and moves with such assured unhurried pace, that viewers will soon forget they are watching a film. A compelling and intimate portrait of loss and connection.
