Talya Lavie spent two years in the Israeli army, like many Israeli women subject to conscription, and Zero Motivation distills her experiences there as a soldier. Judging by this movie, which she wrote and directed, she was not a happy camper in uniform.
Not by a longshot.
Zero Motivation, which opens in Toronto on Friday, Dec. 12 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, is a melange of drama, melodrama and comedy featuring an unknown but competent cast. Divided into three separate but overlapping episodes, it takes place on a remote military base in the Negev desert, far from the bright lights and cosmopolitan ambience of Tel Aviv.
Daffi (Nelly Tagar), a big city girl, finds life on the base miserable. Assigned to an administrative unit, and forced to serve refreshments to the commanding officer and his colleagues, she dreads the routine, finding it dull, boring and demeaning. So much so that she goes to the trouble of sending a letter to the chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces asking for a transfer to Tel Aviv. Worse still, she dislikes her commander, Rama (Shani Klein), a gruff, no-nonsense officer who’s angling for a promotion.
Daffi’s dissatisfaction with her lot is one component of the first episode. The other aspect focuses on Tehila, a soldier who’s supposed to replace Daffi. Much to her disappointment, Tehila turns out to be an imposter.
Daffi’s friend, Zohar (Dafna Ivgy), has problems as well. She’s a virgin and yearns to be a “real” woman, the theme around which the second story unfolds. Irena (Tamara Klingon), a blonde, Russian-born soldier with a manly voice and a bent for profanity, teases Zohar mercilessly about her virginity. Irena seems like an unsympathetic character, but proves her loyalty by saving Zohar from the clutches of a horny paratrooper.
As the second episode winds down, Daffi is led to believe that she can leave the base after she takes an officer’s course. Daffi has no interest in a career in the army. What she wants is a ticket to Tel Aviv.
In the final segment, Zohar turns weird, upending Rama’s hopes of advancement and getting into a brawl with Daffi, who defends herself with, of all things, a staple gun.
As a viewer may surmise, Zero Motivation is not borne along by classic Zionist tropes but rather by dashes of irreverance and humour. This is an edgy, contemporary Israeli film informed by a desire to tell a universal story about love, disappointment, selfishness and ambition.