Ofir Raul Graizer’s soulful drama, America, explores the complex friendship of two men who love the same woman.
Scheduled to be screened at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival on June 5, this heart-felt Israeli movie unfolds in the United States and Israel over the course of about two years.
Eli (Michael Moshonov), a swimming coach in Chicago, is called home to Israel after learning that his father died and that he has inherited his house. The news of his father’s passing hardly affects Eli, who has not been in touch with him for years.
By chance, Yotam (Ofri Birerman), Eli’s old friend, recognizes him on a street and invites him to his home for dinner. There Eli meets Yotam’s Ethiopian live-in girlfriend, Iris (Oshrat Ingedashet), a florist.
Eli and Yotam, who have been friends since childhood, spend a day hiking and swimming in a nature reserve crowned by a waterfall. As Eli sunbathes, Yotam wanders off on his own. As he walks down a path, he slips, hitting his head on a rock and injuring himself seriously. Eli carries him back to safety, saving his life.
Unfairly, Eli is blamed for the accident. Iris is angry, as is Yotam’s father, Moni (Moni Moshonov), who taught Eli and his son how to swim. Devoted to Yotam’s welfare, Iris temporarily closes her flower shop to be with him at the hospital. Much to his family’s distress, Yotam’s condition degenerates, and he is moved to a special institution.
Ten months elapse, during which Eli finds a job as a swimming instructor in an indoor pool in Israel. He phones Iris and asks her whether she can beautify his arid garden. She agrees. She also accepts his invitation to spend time at the pool. She seems impressed by Eli’s easy rapport with his students, though she realizes he is emotionally distant and somewhat unconventional in terms of his everyday behavior.
Following a short absence, he suddenly reappears. Iris accepts his apology, after which they are intimate. As they draw closer to each other, Iris tells him her life story. He listens attentively. He looks tense, but sometimes cracks a faint smile.
Moshovov and Ingedashet sink into their respective roles seamlessly. Iris’ devotion to flowers endows the film with bright splashes of colors.
Miraculously, Yotam emerges from his coma, though he remains very fragile and unable to walk or look after himself. Iris displays her loyalty to Yotam by visiting him regularly, much to his parents’ appreciation.
Yotam’s partial recovery sets the stage for a love triangle, but it never develops following Eli’s abrupt announcement that he is leaving Israel. At this point, a viewer learns that Eli was physically and mentally abused by his father, a high-ranking police officer, and that his mother was a victim of abuse as well. These incidents clearly traumatized him.
With Eli literally and figuratively out of the picture, at least for a while, the film focuses on Yotam’s recovery and Iris’ generous assistance during his convalescence. Eli turns up fleetingly, but then fades away.
During this interval, Yotam’s relationship with Iris deepens, despite his awareness of Iris’ relatively brief romance with Eli.
Alternatively sad and uplifting, America is a film to savor and appreciate.