CheerupSilver
Very Cool!!!
Lucybespro
It is a performances centric movie
Gordon-11
This film tells the story of a married butcher in a part of Jerusalem that is very conservative in religious views. One day, a young man walks into the butcher shop, seeking a job and refuge. Little by little, the butcher is drawn to the young man."Eyes Wide Open" is very slow, and nothing very dramatic happens. Even the unexpected ending is delivered in a rather restrained manner. That is not to say that the film is not good though. Its restrained approach to the story echoes the oppressive societal values that the butcher lives in. As he says, he feels dead inside - the slow pacing expresses exactly that.It is a sad story that is very real life. I can imagine similar experiences happening to many people in the real world.
Irishchatter
Honestly, this movie needed a better ending for the two men to be together, although they just drifted apart and Erzi just left Aaron for dead. It was just annoying that the movie left us with a cliffhanger to see did Aaron drown or did he survive? My guess he probably drowned!I didn't find the story that great to be honest but I found the whole set comfortable. The house they set Aarons house was absolutely cozy. This is why I gave this film another star. I honestly wish I could enjoy this movie because it was different, where would you find a interesting Jewish gay movie anyway? I just was annoyed at this movie as it wasn't great or made sense!
joelirwin
While I am not involved in Hollywood film production, I am involved in independent film production in Texas. I found the topic very interesting and powerful, though I did find it difficult to sit through the film. More than half the film past before I began to feel a dramatic development in the action of the film. There were subplots like the other unacceptable relationship which were a big stretch to understand how it was connected to the film. Many scenes had slow pan shots and took too long and left me waiting for what is next. And as a composer myself, I was surprised by the little original music used in the film - especially since there were so many scenes with little to no dialog. A few spots of seemingly pure synthesized music that had no dramatic sound or direction to it. It is not until the end titles we even get to hear a piano. Perhaps directors in Israel (or at least this one) do not fully understand the benefits of music and sound effects. I can understand at least the total lack of Israeli commercial music as perhaps a shoestring budget but there are so many starving artists in Israel (I have a cousin who writes and performs in Israel) who would do it for just credit.All in all, as a film watching experience, this may be what viewers in Israel expect, but here, at least in Texas, this is the sort of film I would perhaps expect from a new Indie filmmaker - not a full fledged theatrical release.
Capo-idFilm
Understated, impressionist drama in which the two central performances and the effective, naturally-lit photography are let down by too many scenes of stilted silence; it's quite alright to make a point of people not understanding one another, but too much contemporary art cinema seems to rely on an affected Bressonianism that doesn't quite gel with surrounding authenticity. The starkest example here is a scene in which a character tries to explain the excitement he feels from an adulterous affair: "I was dead," he says. "Now I feel alive." Even excusing the trite phrasing, the line doesn't quite ring true given how flat, lifeless and unchanged the character has previously seemed. Perhaps, of course, that's the point; but that doesn't make the film any stronger.
