Today is my last full day in Buenos Aires visiting my in-laws. I went with my brother-in-law to see El Abrazo Partido (The Lost Embrace) about a 30-something single Jewish man in Buenos Aires whose father abandoned the family around the time of his birth to go fight in the Yom Kippur War. So many years later, the father returns and a host of secrets unfold until the real truth of his disappearance is discovered. While this wasn't a great film, I did enjoy it's twists and turns and the manner in which it showed how days passed in the typical "galerias" or shopping corridors that one finds everywhere here. El Abrazo Partido actually won the Grand Jury, Silver Bear prize for best Film at the Berlin Film Festival recently. I have no idea when this might be available in English or shown in the U.S.
Another movie that I purchased and saw is the Israeli made Yana's Friends. This is a romantic-comedy about a Russian immigrant and her neighbors and making do in their new home. I thought the performances by the lead characters were excellent and the comic subplots refreshing. Part of the film takes place during the first Gulf War when Scud missiles were falling around Israel and it makes you remember how horribly frightening it must have been. I would definitely recommend this movie.
Finally, Late Marriage, another Israeli film got very good reviews and is notable for a prolonged sex scene that critics raved about as being particularly realistic. The story centers around a 31 year old, single philosophy student and how he deals with his traditional family's pressure to marry the right girl and dump the divorcee he currently loves. The films pace is a little slow at times and for me the sex scene would have been more interesting, honestly, if the woman didn't have such small breasts. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend this movie, but it does show a unique view of Georgian immigrants to Israel and the culture that they bring from the former Soviet Union.
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