Gabi Amrani Movies

Aviva My Love star Assi Levi takes the lead in writer/director Raphael Nadjari's drama concerning a young Israeli wife and mother attempting to navigate a clandestine romance while simultaneously contending with the fact that her father has become financially involved with a variety of orthodox religious institutions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The Shephardim and the Ashkenazim are two subgroups of European Jewry who have populated Israel. The Ashkenazim generally come from Western Europe, and had many cultural advantages from the outset, including modern educations. The Shephardim include Eastern European and Oriental Jews, and their background included many poor city dwellers and farmers. Even in Israel, there have been class distinctions between the two groups. In this drama, Zohar (Shaul Mizrahi), a Shephardic folk-singer, has just gotten out of prison for assault, and is trying to put his life back together. Part of that effort includes an attempt to reconnect with his ex-wife, who is now seeing someone else, and to resurrect his career. However, it is not the conflict between the two Jewish cultures which eventually results in his demise, but his own involvement in the drug culture. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy try but fail to bring this flat comedy to life, while the story itself is hampered by intercutting between the years of 1982 in Los Angeles (Moore) and 1984 in Kuwait (Murphy), with no explanation of how these two disparate people and locations are related. Wylie (Moore) is an inept engineer trying to perfect a gyro system for his employers who contract projects with the U.S. defense department. Wylie accidentally gets some blueprints for another type of gyro -- and his company successfully manufactures the part, much to almost everyone's benefit. Unfortunately, these plans are coveted by a certain ruthless industrial spy (David Rasche), and the FBI itself is suspicious about the origins of the blueprints in Wylie's hands. Meanwhile (and in constant interspersed segments), Landry (Murphy) is trying to get his tank to stay on course, but no matter what he does the machine swerves and lunges at random -- could there be a gyro at fault here? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Yaky Yosha's 1982 Israeli drama Kvish Lelo Motza (aka Dead End Street) observes the trials and travails of a young prostitute named Alice (Anat Atzmon) who is thrust into jail alongside her pimp and hustler boyfriend. In desperation, Alice devises a scheme to save both of them: she will take the steps necessary to free herself, then set about raising the money to save her beau. However, she fails to anticipate the arrival of a documentary crew comprised of husband and wife Yoram (Yehoram Gaon) and Miri (Gila Almagor), who insist on filming her as she undergoes rehabilitation; when Yoram begins to fall hard for Alice, it draws the ire and chagrin of Miri, who begins to seethe with jealousy. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

When the state of Israel was formed, the city of Tel Aviv was built to accommodate the need for a port city. However, the city had great difficulty finding reliable Jewish dockworkers. The founders of the city searched the world over and finally found that Saloniki, Greece was the only port in the entire world where there were Jewish dockworkers. Workers from Saloniki were encouraged to come to Israel, and they established their own neighborhood community in Tel Aviv. Salamoniko (Reuven Bar-Yotam) is one of these men, and he worries about his children because the neighborhood they live in is going downhill. For their benefit, he moves them to a ritzier part of town, and the snobbish new rich who surround his down-to-earth family don't know what to make of them. In real life, actor Reuven Bar-Yotam's father was one of the Greek dockworkers who made Tel Aviv possible. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Sister Mary (Leslie Caron) is a nun who enlists the help of Madron (Richard Boone) after she is the only survivor of an Apache massacre. A trio of lecherous bandits try to force themselves on the nun, and Madron shoots two of them to death. The third is made to swear allegiance to Sister Mary in exchange for his life. The Apaches trap the trio and Madron comforts the crying nun, who emerges the next morning sans her religious habit. This is supposedly the first movie filmed in Israel without an Israeli theme. Smoke signals are obviously added in the post-production process, drawing unintentional laughter for this violent and forgettable film. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Blaumilch (Bomba Zur) is a patient in an asylum who manages to escape by sneaking onto a milk truck. He is dropped off in the middle of downtown Tel Aviv, where a road construction crew is busy making repairs. Blaumilch grabs a jackhammer and begins to dig a hole in the road. The police halt traffic, believing he is part of the road crew. The irate mayor demands an investigation and finds no one willing to admit that they were unaware of the hole-digging project. Through a series of bureaucratic bungles, departments clamor to receive credit for the unauthorized dig. Soon heavy equipment is called for to aid in the endeavor that everyone is afraid not to know about, as the hole becomes a canal that eventually reaches to the sea. When an official discovers the whole project is a mistake, he is hauled off to the asylum. Blaumilch, feeling his efforts have been overlooked, begins digging another hole in this satirical comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Erbinka (Haym Topol) is an Israeli drifter who dreams of winning the national lottery in this offbeat comedy. When he fails to win the coveted prize, he robs the lottery office by posing as a director making a film. Erbinka even recruits the police to help him in his efforts, completely fooling the officers. When he needs food, the enterprising Erbinka attends bar mitzvahs and has his fill before anyone realizes he is uninvited. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi