Devarim (1996)

Synopsis: DEVARIM was the first film Amos Gitai made in Israel upon his return, after ten years of exile precipitated by his powerful documentary, FIELD DIARY (1983). Gitai was ready to take his filmmaking talent in a new direction. Always focused on... DEVARIM was the first film Amos Gitai made in Israel upon his return, after ten years of exile precipitated by his powerful documentary, FIELD DIARY (1983). Gitai was ready to take his filmmaking talent in a new direction. Always focused on the power of his images, he began using the talented Renato Berta as his Director of Photography, instead of the legendary Henry Alekan (WINGS OF DESIRE). He was looking for a thinner, more modernistic light, to match his chosen subject--the seemingly stunted emotional lives of three men in their thirties living in Tel Aviv. Gitai's film is based on PAST CONTINUOUS by Yaakov Shabtai, a powerful novel, drenched with ennui, that is written as a single sentence. Gitai's adaptation perfectly captures the book's flowing ramble--a kind of headlong rush into nothingness. Gitai himself stars as Goldman, a depressive middle-aged mama's boy, whose father has just died, and whose two best friends, Caesar (Assi Dayan), the restless womanizer, and Israel (Amos Schub), the noncommittal slacker, can't manage to find the cemetery to attend the funeral. Within the first few moments of the film, Gitai nails down the directionless feeling that pervades the lives of these men. This film was screened as part of an Amos Gitai retrospective organized by New York City's Anthology Film Archives. [More]

Starring: Assi Dayan, Amos Schub, Amos Gitai, Lea Koenig

Starring: Assi Dayan, Amos Schub, Amos Gitai, Lea Koenig, Riki Gal, Michal Zoharetz, Sharon Hacohen, Maya Kadishman, Sahmuel Calderon, Galia Spring

Director: Amos Gitai

Director: Amos Gitai
Screenwriter: Gilad Evron, Madi Levy
Producer: Shuki Friedman
Composer: Uri Ophir

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