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Arye

"Arye's" offbeat story by co-scenarists Alexander Gelman and Roman Kachanov is seriously undercut by latter's flat-footed direction. Pic's mix of heavy themes and whimsy never quite gels. Still, curio will attract interest from Jewish fests and scattered offshore arts-casters.

Russian-Israeli co-production “Arye’s” offbeat story by co-scenarists Alexander Gelman and Roman Kachanov is seriously undercut by latter’s (“DMB,” “Down House”) flat-footed direction. Moving from too-idealized depiction of Jewish children hiding from the Holocaust to the same characters’ intriguingly seriocomic reunion in Israel much later, pic’s mix of heavy themes and whimsy never quite gels. Still, curio will attract interest from Jewish fests and scattered offshore arts-casters.

Married to much-younger Olga (Angelina Chernova), whom he wed out of pity after her husband died on his operating table, Moscow cardiologist Israel Arye (Yezhi Shtur) barely escaped the June 1941 genocide of Lithuanian Jews. He and little cousin Sonya were hidden in a farmhouse by a Gentile friend and discovered adolescent first-love before the Allied liberation separated them — he went to Russia, she to Israel. When present-day Arye is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decides to find Sonya (Sandra Sadeh) again. They fall back in love instantly, but what to do about Olga? Script’s absurdist features appeal (Arye has conversations with dead relatives and his guardian angel), but low budget, pallid perfs (especially from child thesps), and generally stolid helming cramp its ambitions.

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Arye

Israel-Russia

  • Production: A Gorky Studios and Polygon Eurasia production in association with the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture. Produced by Stanislav Yershov, Faina Balk, Sergei Khotimski. Executive producers, Yuri Obukhov, Yakov Fridman. Directed by Roman Kachanov. Screenplay, Alexander Gelman, Kachanov.
  • Crew: Camera (color), Nikolai Nemolayev; editor, Kachanov; music, Vyacheslav Ganelin; production designers, Alexander Tolkachev, Maxim Epstein. Reviewed at San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, July 24, 2005. Running time: 92 MIN.
  • With: With: Yezhi Shtur, Sandra Sadeh, Angelina Chernova, Alexander Balk, Vitaly Rosenwasser, Zhenia Melnikov, Bella Sarkisova, Vera Ivanko, Irina Rosanova, Igor Sukachev. (Russian dialogue.)

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