If the film is an indictment of anything it is how the collective experience of the kibbutz is at odds with family loyalties.
Sweet Mud (2006)
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Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:9
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7/10
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: While the Israeli kibbutz has been idealized as a paragon of utopian movements, Sweet Mud tells a darker, more nuanced tale of a community ill equipped to cope with individuality and deviations... While the Israeli kibbutz has been idealized as a paragon of utopian movements, Sweet Mud tells a darker, more nuanced tale of a community ill equipped to cope with individuality and deviations from a rigidly defined norm, and of an adolescent boy stretching to compensate for what the collective cannot provide. Amidst lush fields and the idyllic landscape of a kibbutz in 1974, 12-year-old Dvir is entering his bar mitzvah year--a time for many initiations and trials. Dvir's father is dead, his brother is away in the army, and his mother, Miri, suffers from emotional instability. While the collective handles the practical needs of every family, the intangible moral support one expects from a close-knit cooperative is scarce, and Dvir is left to care for beautiful, fragile Miri. When Miri's kindly boyfriend, Stephan, arrives from Switzerland, it seems that Miri, blissfully in love, may actually recover. But the "kibbutzniks," already resentful of a "noncontributing" guest, cast Stephan out after he tussles with another resident to defend Dvir. The loss shatters Miri--and Dvir must pick up the pieces. Vividly capturing the vagaries of '70s kibbutz life with gorgeous, glowing camerawork, Sweet Mud is the painful coming of age of a child who marshals all his resources to nurture his own parent. The story also becomes a wrenching allegory for the casualties of any society that fails to tend to its members' vulnerabilities. -- Sundance Film Festival [More]
Starring: Henri Garcin, Tomer Steinhof, Ronit Yudkevitz, Shai Avivi
Starring: Henri Garcin, Tomer Steinhof, Ronit Yudkevitz, Shai Avivi, Pini Tavger, Gal Zaid, Daniel Kitsis, Joseph Korman, Ami Weil, Omer Berger, Natan Sgan-Cohen, Idit Tzur, Sharon Zuckerman, Rivka Neuman, Hila Ofer
Director: Dror Shaul
Director: Dror Shaul
Screenwriter: Dror Shaul
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Reviews for Sweet Mud
Sweet Mud holds within its delicately wrought, keenly insightful grasp, the illuminating convergence of political reality and the individual in a personal struggle to transcend the constraints of the human condition.
As the story spirals tragically away--all the more powerfully because of Dvir's part in his mother's fate--it avoids the sacrificing-mother-redeemed-by-love cliche and gains a remarkable dramatic weight and urgency.
An appealing coming-of-age tale that takes on the difficult issues of mental illness and conformity.
If [director] Shaul means for his indictment to have some contemporary resonance, to hint at conformist pressures in the current Israeli state, he fails to give us any of the blocks needed to build that thesis.
... a richly complex tapestry of culture, idealism, love and freedom.
Sundance Jury Award Winner: Though grounded in a particular locale, Israeli kibbutz in 1974, this disturbing coming-of-age tale also serves as an allegory about the clash between "deviant" individuals and a system that emphasizes "health" and conformity
Subtly directed and flawlessly acted, Sweet Mud packs a genuine punch.
This is a film from the heart, from a firsthand familiarity that yields conflicted emotions over the gap between an ideal and its realization.
A tendency toward broad novelistic storytelling... robs Sweet Mud of a focus.
Latest News for Sweet Mud
January 28, 2007:
Sundance Awards: "Padre Nuestro," "Grace is Gone" Among Competition Winners
Results are in for this year's Sundance festival winners, including awards for John Cusack's "Grace is Gone," Christopher Zalla's "Padre Nuestro," NASA... More...
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