First film I saw out of the EFM screenings. I had read Ronit Elkabetz's name in the Program - she was also in LES MAINS LIBRES at the EFM but I had already seen this film - and wanted to see this feature, without knowing what it was about. It was shown in the Panorama section. The director, Michal Aviad (a woman) was there, and the room was full. She didn't say much before the screening, only "I hope you'll be touched". And I was. It's the story of Lily and Nira, two women who have been raped by the same man, someone called "The Polite Rapist" by the Israeli police - it's not just the two of them: 16 (I think) women in total were raped by this individual. Twenty years later, the two women meet again due to professional reasons: Nira is a film editor working on a piece about Lily and her fight for Palestinians. But if Nira really wants to share memories and suffer, Lily doesn't seem to agree with this and would rather forget the past...
The film is actually based on some real facts and rapes that happened in Tel Aviv in 1978. The director chose to include televisual and also recorded materials, such as testimonies of the real women who were raped, to the film. That's why I say it is in between fiction and documentary. Michal Aviad actually made documentaries before, and that's her first fiction. This mix gives a lot of power, a lot of courage, a lot of feelings to the drama. The two actresses are incredible, and even though it is a tough subject, it never turns into a melodramatic treatment of the story or the characters. It remains humble and touching the whole time.
Dear Ronit Elkabetz: a simple word to say how beautiful, how human, how touching, how impressive this actress is. I first saw her in OR MY TREASURE and then in 7 DAYS - a drama about a family in grief, astonishing - and kept following her work ever since. If you're ever interested, here is a (short) list of her films - en vrac -:
Late marriage
The band's visit
To take a wife
7 days
The girl on the train
Jaffa
Or (my treasure)
In a word: Thank you for your talent.
MJ.
