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Alila

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Alila (2004)

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Reviews Counted:17

Fresh:7

Rotten:10

Average Rating:5.3/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Feb 27, 2004 Limited

Synopsis: Amos Gitai's ALILA intertwines the stories of over a dozen distinct characters who inhabit an apartment complex located in a rundown neighborhood of Tel Aviv. Holocaust survivor Schwartz (Yosef... Amos Gitai's ALILA intertwines the stories of over a dozen distinct characters who inhabit an apartment complex located in a rundown neighborhood of Tel Aviv. Holocaust survivor Schwartz (Yosef Carmon) has enjoyed a peaceful existence living in his small apartment with Linda (Lyn Shiao Zamir), a young Filipino who comes regularly to give him medication and company. But recently, Schwartz's treasured silence has been replaced by a cacophony of bangs, loud sounds and aggressive voices. One of the many obtrusive men audible to Schwartz is Hezi (Amos Lavie). He recently rented one of the nearby apartments in the building for a secret rendezvous with a beautiful and self-deprecating woman named Gabi (Yael Abelcassis). Their intense, unequal and often-violent love affair turns Gabi's life into a public and dissonant garble of psychological pain and physical pleasure. Also disrupting Schwartz's rest is a group of illegal Chinese construction workers who expand one of the apartments into the courtyard, without the landlord's permission. Divorcee Mali (Hanna Laslo) has her own problems as well. Their neighbors' construction workers have been contracted by her ex-husband Ezra (Uri Klauzner), who is himself unwilling to give up his regular rapport with Mali and let her continue her life with a new young boyfriend. And to make matters worse, their son Eyal (Amit Mestechkin) is missing after having deserted his military service. -- © Kino International [More]

Starring: Uri Ran Klauzner, Yael Abecassis, Ronit Elkabetz, Amos Lavie

Starring: Uri Ran Klauzner, Yael Abecassis, Ronit Elkabetz, Amos Lavie, Liron Levo, Hanna Laslo, Lup Berkowitch, Yosef Carmon, Amit Mestechkin, Lyn Shiao Zamir

Director: Amos Gitai

Director: Amos Gitai
Screenwriter: Amos Gitai, Marie-Jose Sanselme
Producer: Amos Gitai
Studio: Kino International

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 9, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Alila

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

David Rooney

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 02 2009 03:15 AM

Variety

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 05 2005 06:55 PM

Boston Phoenix

tomato

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Gitai delivers an amazing film every bit as satisfying as his masterpiece Kippur (2001).

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 01 2005 05:24 PM

Combustible Celluloid

splat
C+

Dennis Schwartz

Suggesting that the strain of the Arab conflict has gotten to the Israelis and that peace might only be a pipe dream.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 24 2004 07:58 PM

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

splat
2/4

David Nusair

...Gitai has populated the story with one unlikable character after another, making it impossible for the viewer to connect with anything on screen.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 21 2004 10:35 PM

Reel Film Reviews

splat
2/5

Peter Howell

It's a bit of a mess.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 30 2004 05:12 PM

Toronto Star

tomato
3/5

Bruce Kirkland

For all its flaws, Alila is an interesting social issue film.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 30 2004 05:11 PM

Jam! Movies

splat
2.5/4

Liam Lacey

It's too acerbic to be funny and too detached to be really moving.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 30 2004 08:24 AM

Globe and Mail

tomato
3/5

Kenneth Turan

The story and even the characters turn out to be less interesting than the overview it gives us of the way Israelis live now, its portrait of a dislocated society where despair rumbles beneath the surface of everyday life.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 10 2004 08:50 PM

Los Angeles Times

splat
2.5/5

Sheri Linden

For non-Israeli audiences, Alila is an alternately illuminating and confounding glimpse into seldom-seen aspects of the country.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 10 2004 08:33 PM

Boxoffice Magazine

splat

Ella Taylor

Though absorbing enough, Alila must be counted a noble failure, if only because its efforts to follow the screwed-up lives of 12 hapless souls in a seedy Tel Aviv apartment building finally add up more to mere mimicry than commentary.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 10 2004 01:04 PM

L.A. Weekly

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jun., 05 2004 08:33 AM

AV Club

splat
2/5

Greg Muskewitz

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 17 2004 08:16 AM

eFilmCritic.com

splat

Ed Gonzalez

Gitaļ's portrait of self-destructive lives is certainly honest, but his direction is suffocating.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 22 2004 11:25 AM

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

splat

Frank Scheck

None of the characters or situations truly manages to hold our attention, though there are some arresting moments.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 04 2004 01:13 PM

Hollywood Reporter

tomato

Lewis Beale

Extremely well-acted and generally absorbing.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 02 2004 05:01 PM

Film Journal International

tomato
3/4

V.A. Musetto

Gitai ... records the comings and goings with a keen eye.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 27 2004 01:17 PM

New York Post

tomato
A-

Another piece of essential viewing for outsiders trying to understand life in the Middle East.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 26 2004 09:15 PM

E! Online

tomato
2.5/5

Ken Fox

An interesting, if not entirely successful, adaptation of an excellent book.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 26 2004 08:13 PM

TV Guide's Movie Guide

splat
2.5/5

Stephen Holden

Amos Gitai's acidly comic study of life in a flimsy Tel Aviv apartment complex is a sour urban mosaic whose seedy characters, try as they might, can't get out of one another's faces.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 26 2004 06:45 PM

New York Times

 
 
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