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Special Features
- In Hebrew with English subtitles
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
An uncommonly powerful film, Broken Wings captures a family in mid-disintegration: A midwife at an Israeli hospital struggles to hold her children together in the wake of their father's death. Maya, a gaunt, pale young woman, aspires to win a band contest; Ido, a boy bullied at school, tries to film himself jumping from heights; Yair, a teenage boy, wallows in the meaninglessness of existence as he hands out flyers, dressed in a mouse costume. This may sound tedious or excruciating, but it's given vivid life by an incredible cast and a humor that manages to be absurd and a little sad at the same time. The movie embraces its characters with a profound empathy; it's hard to imagine that anyone could watch Broken Wings and not be deeply moved by the end. Not surprisingly, the movie has won numerous awards at film festivals around the world. --Bret Fetzer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
By S. Calhoun
Format:DVD
Nine short months after the sudden death of the father the Ulman family psychologically resides in the deep crevices of pain, sorrow and mourning. Juggling her job as a midwife and taking care of her four children Dafna has barely enough time or opportunity to grieve. Each child is also struggling in their own manner with their father's death that has threatened to break apart the bonds of their family.
This film is beautiful and realistic in the manner of how each character's pain is portrayed. Even though they reside under the same roof each is dealing with their own sphere of remorse. I was greatly moved by the grief that they endured. The father's death itself is rarely mentioned and the exact details of the tragedy are not revealed until towards the end.
Although this film is set in the port city of Haifa, Israel there were no mention of politics, which was quite strange since it seems that everything I hear or see concerning Israel is associated with world political affairs. For this reason alone I found this film to be refreshing as it showed the lives of "normal" Israelis away from the newspaper headlines. Recommended.
This film is beautiful and realistic in the manner of how each character's pain is portrayed. Even though they reside under the same roof each is dealing with their own sphere of remorse. I was greatly moved by the grief that they endured. The father's death itself is rarely mentioned and the exact details of the tragedy are not revealed until towards the end.
Although this film is set in the port city of Haifa, Israel there were no mention of politics, which was quite strange since it seems that everything I hear or see concerning Israel is associated with world political affairs. For this reason alone I found this film to be refreshing as it showed the lives of "normal" Israelis away from the newspaper headlines. Recommended.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The trauma that accompanies the sudden loss of a beloved family member is being repeated all over the Middle East today. Behind the headlines are the stories we never read about. One of these is told metaphorically in Nir Bergman's brilliant first effort Broken Wings. It is not an overtly political film, but the implications are clear. Set in the Israeli port city of Haifa, it depicts the effect of the loss of a patriarch on each member of his family, perhaps suggesting the emotional state of Israel since the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. The 83-minute film won accolades at the Berlin International Film Festival and has been a huge critical and commercial success in Israel, winning nine Israeli Academy Awards in 2003.
The beautifully expressive Maya Maron, in her first major role, plays an Israeli teenage singer-songwriter (also named Maya) who dreams of becoming a rock star, and wears wings when she sings in her local band. As the film opens, Maya is singing a song she wrote in memory of her father who died suddenly nine months earlier, for reasons not disclosed until the end of the film. Her song is interrupted when her mother Dafna (stage actress Orly Zilberschatz Banai), a nurse, phones and tells her that she has been called to work on the night shift at the local hospital and needs Maya home to take care of her brother Ido and sister Bahr. Maya emphatically refuses, then relents, but the tension between mother and daughter is palpable.
The young woman, who was with her father when he died, does not fully grasp the guilt behind her bottled-up rage, and takes out her anger on her mother, who is both sympathetic and irritating as she labors wearily to keep the family from a collision course. We learn that each family member is suffering the father's loss in his or her own way. Dafna stayed in bed for three months, leaving the children to do the parenting, and the results are reflected in their erratic behavior. Six-year old Bahr wets her bed and Ido carries out a strange ritual of filming himself while jumping into an empty pool. The oldest brother Yair (Nitai Gaviratz), also a teenager, has been suspended from school, and hands out leaflets on commuter trains dressed in a mouse costume while expressing a nihilistic philosophy to anyone who will listen. His inability to respond to the words father, fear, and anger during a word association test prompts his school counselor to deny him re-admittance until he receives treatment, but he does not help his cause when he tells the counselor "Your words are meaningless. This conversation does not exist and you don't exist."
Yair tells Maya that "things could be worse," and they do get worse before they get better. Broken Wings may sound depressing, but in Bergman's skillful hands, its sadness is balanced with humor and the strength and dignity of its characters. Stylistically, the film doesn't break any new ground, but displays the kind of insight that allows us to learn something new about ourselves. Though rooted in reality, Broken Wings has a heart that leaps and a soul that soars, and it's a film that I truly loved.
The beautifully expressive Maya Maron, in her first major role, plays an Israeli teenage singer-songwriter (also named Maya) who dreams of becoming a rock star, and wears wings when she sings in her local band. As the film opens, Maya is singing a song she wrote in memory of her father who died suddenly nine months earlier, for reasons not disclosed until the end of the film. Her song is interrupted when her mother Dafna (stage actress Orly Zilberschatz Banai), a nurse, phones and tells her that she has been called to work on the night shift at the local hospital and needs Maya home to take care of her brother Ido and sister Bahr. Maya emphatically refuses, then relents, but the tension between mother and daughter is palpable.
The young woman, who was with her father when he died, does not fully grasp the guilt behind her bottled-up rage, and takes out her anger on her mother, who is both sympathetic and irritating as she labors wearily to keep the family from a collision course. We learn that each family member is suffering the father's loss in his or her own way. Dafna stayed in bed for three months, leaving the children to do the parenting, and the results are reflected in their erratic behavior. Six-year old Bahr wets her bed and Ido carries out a strange ritual of filming himself while jumping into an empty pool. The oldest brother Yair (Nitai Gaviratz), also a teenager, has been suspended from school, and hands out leaflets on commuter trains dressed in a mouse costume while expressing a nihilistic philosophy to anyone who will listen. His inability to respond to the words father, fear, and anger during a word association test prompts his school counselor to deny him re-admittance until he receives treatment, but he does not help his cause when he tells the counselor "Your words are meaningless. This conversation does not exist and you don't exist."
Yair tells Maya that "things could be worse," and they do get worse before they get better. Broken Wings may sound depressing, but in Bergman's skillful hands, its sadness is balanced with humor and the strength and dignity of its characters. Stylistically, the film doesn't break any new ground, but displays the kind of insight that allows us to learn something new about ourselves. Though rooted in reality, Broken Wings has a heart that leaps and a soul that soars, and it's a film that I truly loved.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Its in Hebrew with English subtitles.
Now that I have either your attention or dismission, let me begin.
Nir Bergman directed this raw and touching film that crosses borders and languages with its relatability. The story could have taken place in any U.S. city, and probably has. The actors were great, particularly Orly Silbersatz Banai who played Dafna Ulman the mother, and Maya Maron who played Maya Ulman the daughter. (Who reminded me of Erin "Pixie" Cummins so much for some reason...) It's the tale of a widowed family and the hardships they encounter because of it. It's about strength and responsibility and understanding and forgiveness. It's about independence and family. It's about moving on when you need to and holding on when you should.
It is an excellent film and a must see.
Now that I have either your attention or dismission, let me begin.
Nir Bergman directed this raw and touching film that crosses borders and languages with its relatability. The story could have taken place in any U.S. city, and probably has. The actors were great, particularly Orly Silbersatz Banai who played Dafna Ulman the mother, and Maya Maron who played Maya Ulman the daughter. (Who reminded me of Erin "Pixie" Cummins so much for some reason...) It's the tale of a widowed family and the hardships they encounter because of it. It's about strength and responsibility and understanding and forgiveness. It's about independence and family. It's about moving on when you need to and holding on when you should.
It is an excellent film and a must see.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Broken Wings is an insightful Hebrew-language drama
Broken Wings is an inspiring and insightful Hebrew-language drama that portrays the difficulties, financial and otherwise, of a family that has lost their father due to unexpected... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Trishawsch
4.0 out of 5 stars
Touching study of a family in crisis
Very interesting to see an Israeli film that never once touches on
politics or violence. This is a study of a family in crisis, nine
months after the death of the father... Read more
politics or violence. This is a study of a family in crisis, nine
months after the death of the father... Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Gordon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Touching study of a family in crisis
Very interesting to see an Israeli film that never once touches on
politics or violence. This is a study of a family in crisis, nine
months after the death of the father... Read more
politics or violence. This is a study of a family in crisis, nine
months after the death of the father... Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Gordon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as thought
I love Israeli films and started a nice collection. I rate this one 'good'. Not too terribly exciting and even a little slow. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Genesis
4.0 out of 5 stars
Teenage angst and a mother's grief
This film is the story of a family trying to come to grips with the death of the father/husband. The children are gifted, the mother is exhausted, and each family member is... Read more
Published on November 16, 2010 by M. Hoeber
3.0 out of 5 stars
A pretty good foreign film
The only problem I had with the film is while what the characters are goig through is intensely trmatic, I didn't feel connnected to the characters. Read more
Published on May 10, 2010 by Aaron Kalfus
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Grief Is Mediated
A fascinating film that cuts from person to person as they act out their responses to the sudden death of the father. Read more
Published on May 15, 2009 by Rodney J. Moss
5.0 out of 5 stars
Living through a death
This film offers the genuine raw emotion and family dysfunction that results from the death of a teenagers' father, but also the healing that comes with family reconciliation and... Read more
Published on June 15, 2008 by Alyssa A. Lappen
4.0 out of 5 stars
* A prime example of the renaissance in Israeli film *
While Israeli theatre has greatly deteriorated in quality over the last 20 years, Israeli film has blossomed, led by Israeli filmmakers influenced by the success of independent... Read more
Published on February 19, 2008 by Coco Pazzo
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive
A father who died of an freak accident and the aftermath of that was a family that was torn apart by its sheer inability to deal with his demise. Read more
Published on December 30, 2007 by Ping Lim
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