Customer Reviews

Close to Home

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Imagine living in a world where the bus you are riding on could, at any given moment, detonate into a fiery deathtrap in a deliberate act of mass murder, or the café you are sitting at be rocked to its very foundations by a well-placed briefcase filled with explosives. How would living in so perpetual a state of high alert affect the things you did, the places you went to, the people you saw? And how would such an environment determine the structure of the society itself, the laws it prescribed and the way in which it treated its people? And could terrorism itself become such a commonplace and familiar fact of everyday life that even it might lose the ability to shock and horrify the very people closest to it?

Finding the means of successfully combating terrorism has, of course, become a life-or-death necessity for the people of Israel. One of their responses to the threat has been to instigate mandatory military service for all their young people. Another has been to subject Arabs to legal random searches - simply for being Arabs. In the Israeli film, "Close to Home," Smadar and Mirit are two young Army officers whose job it is to check the ID's of anyone in their assigned area who happens to look like a Palestinian. Possibly because they have grown up with terrorism as a regular part of their lives, these girls seem to have developed a strange immunity to its effects, for neither seems overly impressed with the seriousness of the job they are doing - although, of the two, Mirit is a little more concerned about what might happen to them were they found to be in any way derelict in their duties. Smadar and Mirit are not exactly natural buddies, but, over time, they develop a certain tenuous closeness that seems sure to blossom into a full-fledged friendship by the end of the story.

"Close to Home" is more of a naturalistic study of the day-to-day lives of these two women than it is a heavily plotted narrative. Most of the film is spent chronicling their interactions with their military superiors, the random people they are forced to interrogate, and, most importantly, each other. Smadar Sayar and Neama Shendar create believable, memorable characters who perform their task more out of a sense of duty than a fiery love of country. It's only when an explosion hits a little too close to home that they are, at least momentarily, shaken out of their lethargy. But even that doesn't last for long, as the girls begin to slack off at their jobs once again, with Smadar becoming an ever more potentially corrupting influence on the decidedly less rebellious Mirit.

If the filmmakers, Vardit Bilu and Dalia Hager, have a political point to make, it is well hidden beneath the deceptively casual surface of the girls' relationship. For this is, first and foremost, a story about Smadar and Neama, about two Israeli youngsters who, despite the extraordinary conditions under which they are forced to live, are basically interested in the same things that preoccupy young people the world over: moving away from home, pursuing romantic interests, deciding on hairstyles and fashions. If anything, the filmmakers seem to be saying that it really isn't possible for the human mind to exist in a state of constant readiness no matter how great the threat, that eventually the concerns of common everyday life will rise to the surface and crowd most everything else out. Bilu and Hager clearly acknowledge the reality of the terrorist threat, but they also know that a life ruled by fear is no life at all.

In a subtle but persuasive way, the movie also raises the extremely touchy question of just how far a nation should go in abrogating the civil liberties of any single group in exchange for increased safety. It is an issue Israel has been dealing with throughout its entire existence, and the moviemakers clearly acknowledge that there is no simple solution to that conundrum - a conundrum that has, over the years, become increasingly relevant beyond the limits of the Israeli border.

The movie tells the story of two young female soldiers serving their mandatory military service by patrolling the streets of Jerusalem and checking ID cards of Arabs and Palestinians passing through. Mirit is shy and wants to do what is right. She partnered with Smadar who isn't pleased to be with Mirit, whom most other female soldiers in their unit perceive as a stiff. At first they don't get along at all and their issues reflect in their performance. As their commanding officers press them to do better Mirit and Smadar end up worming up to each other and start to work together. They still have their issues and differences, but their care for each other shows when a suicide bomber strikes nearby....

This movie is a bit slow however it's not intended to be an action movie. There are some scenes where either Smadar or Mirit seem to behave somewhat irrationally. But that really seems to be the point of the movie as this is a story about life in a world of constant tension and uncertainty. And one way to cope with it is to do something that may seem irrational. This is something most of us don't really know anything about nor can we quite fully comprehend what it's like. One thing is for sure, watching this movie will make you appreciate what you have.

Close to Home (Karov La Bayit) ends with an, assumedly, Arab man being pummeled to death by a crowd, over the objections of the two protagonists. We don't see the beating, as the filmmakers choose to not portray violence on screen. (An earlier bombing occurs off screen and we just see its relatively benign after effects.)

While Close to Home is about two women doing their obligatory duty in the Israeli Defense Force, the filmmakers appear to have two agendas, one a simple coming of age theme and the second, women caught up in a ridiculously male-oriented organization.

Viewers of any gender will alternately identify and reject both lead characters and their peculairities. In that, is the strength of the movie as the filmmakers aren't afraid of making both leads human, even if it borders on stereotypes (the timid rule-follower and the brash rule-breaker.)

For exposure to a world and country that is seldom featured in movies, Close to Home is worth a look.

I thought this would be an interesting premise, but the plot didn't seem to go anywhere. It was an interesting peak into the life of women in the Israeli army, however.

It's a great movie about the friendship between 2 Israeli women doing their compulsory military service. At first they start out hating each other because one is kind of a bad girl who hates taking orders and the other is prudish and kind of shy. But by the end of the movie they end up becoming close friends by going through a few hardships together. If you take the time to get into it, it's a great movie. It also shows you don't have to have a big budget or fantastic special effects to produce a good movie. It really is a great movie.

This is the first israeli movie I have ever seen, and I liked it a lot. The two sabra girls were just like american girls with the same innocence, likes, and desires. Two good friends trying to live a normal life in the dangerous city of Jerusalem. A+

What this film really shows ( in a way, like Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing) that both sides of a story can be right...... and wrong

The girls must be soldiers in an area that makes Detroit look like The Hamptons ( well , maybe, but thats all I could come up with)

Yet they are still human and cannot be robots/soldiers 24/7 EVEN IF THAT INCLUDES while on the job, which presents its own dangers in a war/terrorists torn area

Scenes in the movie to keep that open mind are important especially where the Arab lady and her child have to go through a search and throw away a sandwich

YOU ( I know I was) with your open mind will say, Hey, its only a sandwich or you will say Hey she is just doing her job
whichever one you think first is the side you really stand on BUT if you agree to both the above thoughts you are or trying to be objective

Because thats of course the way I view myself

anyway I dont want to give too much away although, to me, there really is no "spoiler" as this is a "feel" movie and its all out there for you to judge

The movie is fairly new and it does give a good account of what being a female in the Israeli Border Police in Jerusalem must be like, but it is missing something. The story is very dry and uneventfull.