Past Life (film)
Past Life | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Hebrew | החטאים |
Directed by | Avi Nesher |
Screenplay by | Avi Nesher |
Based on | Can Heaven Be Void? by Baruch Milch |
Produced by | Ruth Cats Leon Edery Moshe Edery David M. Milch Elad Naggar Avi Nesher David Silber |
Starring | Nelly Tagar Joy Rieger |
Cinematography | Michel Abramowicz |
Edited by | Isaac Sehayek |
Music by | Cyrille Aufort Avner Dorman Ella Milch-Sheriff |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Orion Pictures[1] Samuel Goldwyn Films[2] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | Israel |
Languages | Hebrew English |
Past Life (Hebrew: החטאים) is a 2016 Israeli drama film written and directed by Avi Nesher and starring Nelly Tagar and Joy Rieger.[3][4] It is based on Baruch Milch's memoir Can Heaven Be Void?[5] The film is the first of Nesher's planned trilogy.[6]
Plot
[edit]This article needs a plot summary. (October 2017) |
Two Israeli sisters, one a classical music composer and singer, and the other a budding journalist, try to find out what their father did during World War II in Poland, after a Polish woman runs up to one of them in a Berlin concert venue and calls her the daughter of a murderer.
Cast
[edit]- Nelly Tagar as Nana Milch-Kotler
- Joy Rieger as Sephi Milch
- Doron Tavory as Baruch Milch
- Evgenia Dodina as Lusia Milch
- Tom Avni as Jeremy Kotler
- Rafael Stachowiak as Thomas Zielinski
- Katarzyna Gniewkowska as Agnieszka Zielinska
Reception
[edit]The film has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[7] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded Past Life three stars.[8] Joseph Friar of The Victoria Advocate also gave Past Life three stars.[9] Peter Goldberg of Slant Magazine gave Past Life two and a half stars out of four.[10] Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star awarded the film three stars out of four.[11] Gayle MacDonald of The Globe and Mail gave the film two stars out of four.[12] Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic awarded it two and a half stars out of five.[13] Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post gave it two stars out of four.[14]
Diane Carlson of KDHX praised the performances of Tagar and Rieger writing that they "present their characters' contrasting personalities beautifully, sparring like real sisters."[15] Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post also praised Tagar and Riger: "All the actors do extraordinary work, but the standouts are Rieger and Tagar in the lead roles."[16] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times wrote a positive review, describing the film as "a page-turner that transforms into a clarion call: always compelling, but slightly stifled by noble intentions."[17] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote a positive review: "Uneven but ultimately effective, convincing in mood and emotion despite its melodramatic plotting, Avi Nesher's Past Life is straight-ahead filmmaking heightened by a connection to a pervasive Israeli reality not often found on film."[18] Susan G. Cole of Now gave it a positive review and wrote "this is first-rate filmmaking, and the cast, especially Tagar, prickly yet tender, is very good."[19] Allan Hunter of Screen Daily gave the film a positive review and wrote "The initial set-up of Past Life feels clunky, but once we are back in Israel and the sisters reluctantly confront their dour, domineering father Baruch it settles into a more confident, convincing phase."[20] Alissa Simon of Variety also gave it a positive review, calling it "profoundly moving".[21]
References
[edit]- ^ Hipes, Patrick (15 December 2016). "Israeli Thriller 'Past Life' Lands At Orion & Samuel Goldwyn". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "'Past Life' Movie Review". WUPA. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Picurro, Allison (7 April 2017). "'Past Life' Trailer: Two Sisters Crack Open a Wartime Mystery in Israeli Thriller — Watch". IndieWire. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (16 June 2017). ""Past Life": A family melodrama starting in 1970s West Berlin masquerades as murder mystery". The Denver Post. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (21 September 2016). "'Past Life': Film Review; TIFF 2016". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Mann, Iris (30 May 2017). "Holocaust is passed down and always present in 'Past Life'". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Past Life". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (2 June 2017). "Past Life". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Friar, Joseph (19 June 2017). "Review: PAST LIFE (2017) 'acclaimed Israeli director Avi Neshar explores the effects of the past on the present'". The Victoria Advocate. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Goldberg, Peter (28 May 2017). "Past Life". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Demara, Bruce (13 July 2017). "Reel Brief: Mini reviews of Past Life, The Little Hours and Mermaid doc". Toronto Star. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ MacDonald, Gayle (14 July 2017). "Review: Past Life is a tale of reconciliation marred by clichés". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ VanDenburgh, Barbara (22 June 2017). "Israeli Holocaust drama 'Past Life' fails to convince". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (15 June 2017). "'Past Life': A family melodrama starting in 1970s West Berlin masquerades as murder mystery". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Carlson, Diane (8 June 2017). "'Past Life' reveals the shattering legacy of wartime tragedy". KDHX. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Brown, Hannah (25 November 2016). "MOVIES: AVI NESHER'S 'PAST LIFE' IS A TRIUMPH". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (1 June 2017). "Review: In 'Past Life,' Family Mysteries and Cosmic Questions". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (1 June 2017). "Review In Avi Nesher's 'Past Life,' the bitter history of a Holocaust survivor is passed to his children". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Cole, Susan G. (12 September 2016). "Past Life". Now. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Hunter, Allan (12 September 2016). "'Past Life': Toronto Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Simon, Alissa (12 September 2016). "Festival Review: 'Past Life'". Variety. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
External links
[edit]- 2016 films
- 2010s German-language films
- 2010s Polish-language films
- 2010s Hebrew-language films
- Israeli drama films
- Films based on non-fiction books
- Films directed by Avi Nesher
- Orion Pictures films
- Samuel Goldwyn Films films
- 2016 drama films
- 2010s English-language films
- 2016 multilingual films
- Israeli multilingual films