Customer Reviews

Yana's Friends

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

 

 

It is 1991 in Tel Aviv, and with the threat of Saddam Hussein's poison gas missiles forcing Israeli citizens into sealed rooms in the middle of the night, an interconnected set of stories manages to put warmth into a most controversial of topics: Immigration and Israel...

For once, the film manages to set aside the politics a bit and a human face is seen first.

Yana's Friends is a lovely story. Everything in this film is charming and perfectly moderate. The music is beautiful, the comedy is genuine, the story has it all: finely interwoven stories and surprises, beleivable charm. I wish for the appropriate word; it seems to me this film is, beautifully and charmingly, moderate; and that is what makes it so successful in reaching its aims: to warm, to charm, to make one laugh. Its details, its atmosphere, its characters all are created with a feeling that is not precisely "magic," but "real," and it is genuinely and warmly funny. I think this director, Arik Kaplun, has something to teach to the international scene. (This is the first Israeli film I have the opportunity to watch, and what a good beginning! ) And the actors are a scream. Oh my goodness, are they amazing.

A periodical compared quoted on the box compares Evelyne Kaplun to Audrey Hepburn in elegance. But I think that is a strange comparison, though I can see where they made the connection: Evelyne Kaplun's inmense charm. The quiet, sweet, subtle Yana has a light of her own.

Eli (Nir Levi), if yes, begins the film as a funny but womanizing bachelor wedding videographer, will soon and easily win viewers' hearts.

And then there are the other characters (most of them Russian immigrants) whose stories are woven directly but lightly with Yana's; there is Rosa, the stern landlady who is about to do away with her armor... And Alik (Vladimir Friedman) and Mila (Lena Sachanova) and the paralyzed grandfather and World War II hero Yitzhak (Mosko Alcalay)( who has to, thanks to Alik, "compete" with musiciand/beggar Yuri (Shmil Ben-Ari) for coins), who are in for a surprise. I think Mila especially was a very endearing character, she plays the role of the wife who married not a prince charming, but a man with lots of faults and temper, though always in the end the love from both shines through.

(If you are too tired of words and phrases like Ariel Sharon, Intifada, Abbu Mazen, colonies and occupation, Israeli tanks firing at Palestinian children and suicide bombers taking a whole Café or bus with them right now... and just wish there was peace in that region for a change, you might want to watch this film... to renew your news-battered heart and join in a prayer [or wish] that peace be possible.)

Lovely, charming film. A splendid debut...

"Yana's Friends" is a light movie about a young pregnant Russian woman left alone in Israel by her husband, with only her philandering roommate and rude landlady to watch over her. The exploits of poor Russian immigrant are humorized, with the Gulf War as an often-comic backdrop. The film never loses its charm; the characters are always entertaining. Although funnier if you speak Russian, anyone can enjoy a sweet movie like this one.

The movie was what they call a good "tragicomedy" in Russia. It had its almost hopeless moments, yet showed what the perseverance and hope one has can do and what fruit they will bear. The movie had a very unexpected and charming ending :)

Those who watch it, will not be disappointed (unless they only want to cry like the reviewer before me). And I am from Russia too, and lived there in the 90's, so don't listen to the disenchanted. This movie will give you a reason to hope and to smile :)

I really tried to get into this film, but nothing about it hooked me in and held my interest. Didn't find any of the characters worth caring about, and it was boring overall.

"Yana's Friends" is an innocent story of being lost, finding love, and surviving several SCUD missile attacks. It is a multi-lingual with universal messages, which pulls from relevant moments in Tel Aviv history. "Yana" makes successful leaps and bounds, unlike most American films, by keeping our conflicts and comedy centralized while remaining focused. An old apartment building is our destination as Yana and her husband arrive with a hefty bank note in hand and a surprising "bun-in-the-oven", while macho man Eli seduces women and parties the nights away as a wedding photographer. Add to this mix a couple with a WWII veteran, a street musician, and a rusty old landlord who is about to recapture her youth, and "Yana's Friends" finally takes shape. This is a soaring skyscraper, character driven film that is part comedy, mostly drama, creatively building tension around the violence of the 1991 Gulf War. The film is simple at first, becoming complicated over time, but never forgetting its roots. It is emotional, far from the cannon of pure comedy; the lacked translation transforms it into an absurdist drama that could bring tears. "Yana's Friends" is a completely solid entry into the world of foreign films and groundling strengths, alas, it isn't perfect.

The way that "Yana's Friends" works is such, the first thirty minutes are exciting, building new characters, introducing them to their quirks and settling down, it is the second act, and the choppy third where we loose momentum and finally some steam. The dismal center of this film is important, it is needed to get character A to character B, but ultimately does it have to be so depressing? As Yana struggles with her newfound freedom, she lashes out - in an unfunny scene (though it was meant to carry some humor) she attempts to plow through the airport and board a plane she is not allowed to. It is embarrassing for our characters and for us as we see this event take shape - and it feels awkward. As she returns, she lashes out towards her friends and ultimately falls in love. Again, these scenes become ridged in nature, never quite bringing that solidarity needed for audiences to completely fall for Yana and her crew. It is the apartment owner's sudden realization that again, is cute at first, but fails to become poignant by the film's end. "Yana's Friends" boasted a solid opening, where director Arik Kaplun could spread his creativity, his originality widely, but then he rushed the end. Perhaps it is the time-frame of the film, or the inability to answer "why", but Yana just twittered from one man to the next, looking for the same thing we, as audiences, were looking for - that solid piece of art that we could hold onto.

Yet, there is a place for "Yana's Friends" within the history of cinema. This opens the door to Israeli films, a genre that I haven't explored enough, and it conquers the theme of beginning with nothing and ending with emotions stronger than any inanimate object you could own. The concept of immigration in this foreign film was intriguing to watch, to explore really, as it felt like events that could relate throughout the world. As we enter a new era of war and love, one could envision this happening anywhere - which makes "Yana's Friends" stand out. The comedy was missing, but perhaps that was just the lacking subtitles. This was a good film, just not a powerful one as the box touts. I could suggest this film to friends, perhaps I could watch it again, but it not a film to have in the collection. "Yana's Friends" delighted me to watch, but the lacking ending and trivialized characters forced it out of perfection.

Grade: *** ½ out of *****

We're always looking for Israeli films that can join the list of the half-a-dozen really great pieces of work we've seen from that country's filmmakers. Those works (in no particular order...these are all fantastic) are:

The Syrian Bride
Time of Favor
Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi
Broken Wings
Late Marriage
Walk on Water

That's not to say that all Israeli films are great - I wasn't fond of Amos Gitai's Kedma or Kadosh, for example. [I'm not meaning to single out Gitai - those are simply the first two that pop into my head as examples.]

"Yana's Friends" falls somewhere in the middle. I'm not going to go out of my way to recommend it (whereas I've recommended Walk on Water to no less than 20 people), but I thought it nicely done and educational, too. The juxtaposition of the Russian emigrant experience with the first Gulf War made for very interesting backdrop to these three intersecting tales. The most prominent and compelling tale is that of new emigre Yana, victim of a scam perpetrated on her by, of all people, her husband. Yana is played winsomely by Evelyn Kaplun, who I recognized from The Syrian Bride (2004).

This was a nice film from first-time writer/director Arik Kaplun. He won the Israeli equivalent of an Oscar for directing and screenwriting (I also note on IMDB that he's Ms. Kaplun's husband). Such a promising start...I wonder why nothing since?

I cried...I do not understand why it is called a "comedy". You feel ashamed, confused, angry, and so sorry for the miserable life of those people and for all that global unhappiness and inability to change anything... and at the same time feel so blessed that you are not there... Only people who went through the nightmare of early 90s in Russia can understand this drama, those who desperately tried to find any corner on the Earth except their homeland, even getting there where you wear gas masks every night in a cheap, miserable, smelly, hot, old apartment somewhere where nobody wants you...