Ninas Tragedies (2005)

Winner of 11 Israeli Academy prizes (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay) as well as Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, Nina's Tragedies takes place over an intensely emotional six months in the life of 14 year-old Nadav (Aviv Elkabets). The film unfolds through a series of funny and touching journal entries in which Nadav reminisces about this turbulent period in his family's history--from his high-strung Uncle Haimon's (Yoram Hattav) untimely death to the passing of his estranged, deeply religious father, Amnon (Shmil Ben-Ari).

After Haimon is killed in a terrorist attack, Nadav is asked by his wild, recently divorced mother Alona (Anat Waxman), to move in with her sister, Nina (Ayelet July Zurer), to provide comfort while Nina mourns the death of her new husband, Haimon. Nadav is only too happy to comply, as he's infatuated with his stunning aunt, with whom he shares a special friendship--not to mention a secret, adolescent crush.

But as Nina gets over her loss and finds solace with a handsome but eccentric photographer named Avinoam (Alon Aboutboul), Nadav feels unexpectedly betrayed and must find a way to reconcile his hormonally charged emotions. At the same time, his best friend Menahem (Dov Navon)--a kind of grown-up version of Nadav--has found love with a sultry Russian immigrant named Galina (Jenya Dodina), leaving Nadav alone to pursue the "peeping tom" exploits he once shared with the sex-obsessed Menahem.

The sensitive Nadav eventually finds his way, forced to mature quickly and irrevocably, as the fallible, often disappointing adults around him go through their own "growing pains."

By turns profound and whimsical, sexy and surprising, Nina's Tragedies is ultimately about unconditional acceptance--and the power of love to heal.
 
"This wry comedy drama has excellent acting and surprises galore."  David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
"...catches both the absurdity and the sadness of what it means to live with such daily threat and confusion."  Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
"Engagingly odd and full of sad, funny moments."  Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
 


Editor's Note

This lovingly crafted Israeli film neatly combines kinky eroticism, drama, and quirky comedy. An interlocking series of stories are all observed or heard about by 14-year-old Nadav (Aviv Elkabets), who, beneath his glasses, braces, and bad haircut, suffers tortured longing for his sexy aunt, Nina (Ayelet July Zurer). He and his adult friend, Menahem (Dov Navon), peep at Nina through her apartment windows as she gets undressed, masturbates, or makes love to her husband Haimon (Yoram Hatav). Nadiv's father (Shmil Ben-Ari) left the family to join a yeshiva, and when Haimon dies in a terrorist bombing, mom sends Nadav to live with Nina. It's Nadav's dream come true, until his aunt falls for an overly emotional photographer (Alon Aboutboul) and starts seeing her dead husband walking naked down the street. Nadav can't take playing third fiddle to an older man and a ghost, so he moves in with his dad, who's dying.

Gabizon's film sparkles with nuance, odd coincidences, and hilarious, sudden plot digressions; and the warm color photography and Zurer's naturalistic beauty glow throughout. It's tragic without being cloying, funny without being shrill, and best of all, very witty and irreverent. Gabizon's original script was about the adventures of a peeping tom and a nudist, and while both are still here, one can't help but be grateful for all the wonderful additions.