Un Certain Regard - 1er film
Directed by : Haim TABAKMAN
Country: ISRAEL, GERMANY, FRANCE
Year: 2009
Duration: 91.00 minutes
| Eyes Wide Open | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Haim Tabakman |
| Produced by | Raphael Katz |
| Written by | Merav Doster |
| Starring | Ran Danker Zohar Strauss |
| Music by | Nathaniel Mechaly |
| Cinematography | Axel Schneppat |
| Edited by | Dov Steuer |
| Distributed by | Peccadillo Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
| 91 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
Cast
- Ran Danker as Ezri
- Zohar Strauss as Aaron
- Ravit Rozen a.k.a. Tinkerbell as Rivka Fleischman
- Tzahi Grad as Rabbi Vaisben
- Avi Grayinik as Israel Fisher
- Eva Zrihen-Attali as Sara
- Mati Atlas as Ephraim
SYNOPSIS
Eyes Wide Open is a gay love story in the heart of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem.
Aaron (38), a respectable butcher in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community, is married to Rivka (28) and a dedicated father to four children.
After his father's death, Aaron is looking for assistance in his business when a handsome and homeless Yeshiva (religious school) student, Ezri (19), comes upon the butcher shop by chance. Aaron decides to be Ezri's patron: he hires him, teaches him the craft of slaughtering, and houses Ezri in the shop's back room. Aaron invites Ezri to meals in his home and introduces him to the community. When they go together to a remote "Mikve" (a sacred ritual bath), an intimate moment occurs between them.
From this moment onwards, Aaron knows no peace. Spending more and more time with Ezri, Aaron starts neglecting his family and community life until he is completely swept away in a whirlpool of love and lust for Ezri.
While Rivka suspects that something is wrong with Aaron, Rabbi Vaisben, (56) a family friend and the head of the community, tries to warn Aaron of the future to come if he won't expel Ezri. But Aaron refuses.
Unwilling to tolerate Ezri's presence, the "Modesty Guards", a radical authority in the Ultra-Orthodox community, threaten Aaron. Under enormous pressure that Rivka and the community operate on him, Aaron comes to a decision to commit an irreversible act….
Haim TABAKMAN
CREDITS
Haim TABAKMAN - Director
Merav DOSTER - Screenplay
ACTORS
Ran DANKER - Ezri
Tzahi GRAD - Rabbi Vaisben
Ravit (tinkerbell) ROZEN - Rivka
Zohar STRAUSS - Aaron
Awards
Eyes Wide Open competed in the official selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in the category "Un Certain Regard".
Best Movie at the International Ghent Film Festival 2009.
Critical reception
The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 84% out of 32 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.9/10. A. O. Scott from the New York Times wrote in a positive review that the film "moves slowly and patiently through the ordeal of a single soul, illuminating in the process a cosmos of intense and hidden feeling."
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