No Names on the Doors

No Names on the Doors

Theatrical poster
Directed by Nadav Levitan
Produced by Uri Sabag
Nadav Levitan
Screenplay by Nadav Levitan
Starring Chava Alberstein
Mosko Alkalai
Assi Dayan
Music by Nachum Heiman
Cinematography Valentin Belonogov
Edited by Anat Lubarsky
Distributed by Paralight Films
Release dates
January 1, 1997
Running time
84 minutes
Country Israel
Language Hebrew

No Names on the Doors (Hebrew: אין שמות על הדלתות) is a 1997 Israeli drama directed by Nadav Levitan. The film was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Montpellier Film Festival, the Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Melbourne International Film Festival. It received two nominations for an Ophir Award in the categories of Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

No Names on the Doors is the third film in director Levitan's trilogy about Israeli kibbutzim, following An Intimate Story (1981) and Stalin's Disciples (1986).

Plot

The film is set on a modern kibbutz as the spectre of an Arab invasion lurks in the background and financial pressures are breaking down traditional communal values. A series of fragile, interwoven stories mirror this disintegration of collective ideals: a longstanding friendship between two 40-year-old bachelors (Danni Bassan and Meir Swissa) ends tragically when one decides to get married; a bereaved father is embarrassed to find himself attracted to his dead son's girlfriend (Dorit Lev-Ari); and a mother (Chava Alberstein) perpetuates the memory of her dead son by tending to his room as a memorial. At the same time, an elderly man (Mosko Alkalai) discovers a new, more loving relationship with his intellectually-disabled adult son (Avi Pnini).

Cast

Reception

Deborah Young of Variety wrote that Levitan's third film in his kibbutz trilogy "brings the action to the present day to show the sad dissolution of collective ideals that were these agricultural co-ops' raison d'etre. Though not exceptionally original, the fragile, interwoven stories have a sincere, heartfelt quality that should play well in specialized film weeks and venues."[1] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the movie "tender" and "moving".[2]

References

  1. Deborah Young (26 April 1997), "No Names on the Doors", Variety (accessed 1 December 2012).
  2. Kevin Thomas (6 November 1997), "Israeli Festival Begins", Los Angeles Times (accessed 5 December 2012).
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