Alon Aboutboul Movies

In this comedy from Israel, Shabtai (Alon Abutbul) is a junkman who makes his living reclaiming and selling various cast-offs he finds while scouring the back streets of Tel Aviv. Shabtai has been having a recurring dream in which he meets a beautiful red-headed woman who wastes no time in showing her affection for him. Shabtai doesn't think much of these reveries until he flips through a magazine one day and sees the (literal) woman of his dreams in an ad for cosmetics. Shabtai immediately becomes obsessed with finding the mystery woman, and with the help of his business partner and sidekick Herzel he sets out on a thorough search. In time, Shabtai tracks her down, but things don't work out as he hoped -- the beautiful woman is more interested in scruffy Herzel, who in turn is in love with someone else. Etsba Elohim (aka Out Of The Blue) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Filmmakers Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz revisit some of the characters from their 2004 picture Ve Lakachta Lecha Isha in this mordant examination of family life. It's 1991, the Middle East is still reeling from the impact of the Gulf War, and Ilana (Keren Mor) is an Israeli woman who has become a widow in the wake of her husband's unexpected death. After the funeral, members of the Ilana come to her home for the Jewish ritual of sitting shiva, in which the immediate family observes a week of prayer and contemplation as well-wishers visit. However, Ilana's family does not always get along, and as eight siblings and a number of parents, aunts, uncles and in-laws are brought together in close quarters, tensions rise to the surface over the course of the week. Haim (Moshe Ivgy) is a businessman whose firm is on the verge of bankruptcy after hiring a number of family members and close friends who've let him down. Viviane (Ronit Elkabetz) has left her husband Eliyahu (Simon Abkarian), though for some reason he thinks joining her for shiva will bring them back together, and she finds herself bickering with her sister and longtime rival Simone (Hanna Azoulay Hasfari). Jacques (Rafi Amzaleg) and his wife Lili (Yael Abecassis) are at each others throats, and Therese (Ruby Shoval) and Evelyne (Evelin Hagoel) sped most of their time in the kitchen, spreading malicious gossip about their relatives. Les Septs Jours (aka The Seven Days) was screened as part of the Critics Week series at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A melancholy Israeli flight attendant finds new meaning in life on her quest to reunite a six year-old Chinese boy nicknamed Noodle with his missing mother. Miri (Mili Avital) is a two-time war widow who has long since lost her lust for life and spends most days simply going through the motions. Miri lives with her sister Gila (Anat Waxman), who is currently wrestling with the troublesome prospect of ending her marriage to her husband Izzy (Alon Aboutboul). One day, upon returning home from work, Miri is recruited by the family's Chinese housekeeper (Vicky Lyn) to watch her young son as she runs an important errand. When the housekeeper mysteriously fails to return, however, Miri and her trusty airline coworkers make it their mission on life to reunite mother and son though whatever means possible. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A middle-class Israeli family has a reunion for Passover and find themselves feasting on a smorgasbord of dysfunction as they try to cope with their innumerable problems in this drama. Yona and Michael are hosting the Passover festivities. It is a sadder than usual gathering because one of their sons was recently killed in a military accident. Nathaniel, twin brother of the deceased, creates a stir when he shows up with his new girl friend. His ex-wife Gila bears this well and she and the girl friend become better acquainted. Dorona is the eldest and is constantly plagued by allergies, something that has helped kill the romance in her marriage to Rikki. Shai is anorexic while Dalia is morbidly obese. Meanwhile the bratty son of Nathaniel and Gila creates all sorts of malicious mischief. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this drama, Rafa (Sharon Alexander), an Israeli military policeman, has been sent by headquarters to investigate irregularities in the reporting of the death of an Arab murder suspect. When he gets to the West Bank military camp to investigate, he finds that the Israeli officer the Arab suspect was accused of killing was an old schoolmate of his. And the officer who openly admits killing the suspect for "attempting to escape interrogation" is yet another old school friend. It is clear that the murder suspect was killed by Rafa's friend in order to ensure that justice was personally served for the murder of the Israeli officer, and this action was not only illegal but immoral. On the other hand, Rafa is just as clearly expected to let the whole thing slide, because the offending officer is One Of Us. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The plot to this comedy is primarily a framework for the jokes and routines of the stars, three popular and well-loved Israeli comics. Shayke Levy, Israel Poliakoff, and Gavri Banai are an irreverent trio known for taking on political and social matters, human foibles and current topics in the news. Their stage performances succeed because the trio have developed a creative rapport that fuels their humor. In this film, they play three residents of a condo at odds with each other. Targets for humor range from the Rambo mentality of the day to religious wars. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Director Itzhak Yeshurun uses dissention in a high school as an allegory for the difficulties in mid-'80s Israeli society in this routine drama. One of the students in the school makes others miserable with his abrasive, brooding temperament after his girlfriend dumps him. Things start to go wrong when he and the other students work on a project to build an airplane, and the Arabs in the school are maliciously blamed for the trouble. The ex-girlfriend's punk brother shows up, and the entire situation deteriorates into violence. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi