Alila

2003 Comedy Drama

Directed by Amos Gitai, Alila is based on Yehoshua Kenaz's novel Returning Lost Love and chronicles the trials and tribulations of every day life in Tel Aviv. Most of the film revolves around an apartment block on the working-class borders of Tel Aviv, where the trysts of residents Hezi (Amos Lavie) and Gabi (Yael Abecassis) attract their neighbors' attention, as does the unauthorized construction of an additional wing to the building. A neighboring family patriarch, meanwhile, is dealing with legal troubles (he hired illegal Chinese construction workers), the AWOL status of his son, and his wife's affair with a younger man. A Holocaust survivor (Yosef Carmon) and his Filipino housekeeper (Lyn Shiao Zamir) further illustrate the conflict between Jews, Jews of different extractions, and Arabs in the community.

Director: Amos Gitai

Starring: Yael Abecassis, Uri Klauzner, Hanna Laslo, Ronit Elkabetz, Amos Lavie

Reviews

  • Gitai's characters are meant to represent the Israeli people as a whole. Just as they question their lives, the filmmaker questions 21st-century Israel.

    V.A. Musetto - New York Post

    29 November 2012

  • An ensemble drama laced with lighter moments that depicts the vitality, resilience and moral dilemmas of the people of Tel Aviv, the film is absorbing and at times moving.

    David Rooney - Variety

    29 November 2012

  • The movie...tries to juggle too many characters at once (its title means "story plot" in Hebrew), and in several cases their connections aren't adequately explained.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • The film's drawback, and it is a serious one, is that few of its characters wear very well. The more we see them, the less they involve us and hold our interest, a situation not helped by the bombastic, theatrical style of acting a few of the performers have felt free to employ.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    29 November 2012

  • Israel's one-man new wave, Amos Gitai, surveys his nation's hardscrabble quotidian in Alila, which dallies with both Kiarostamian spirit and Altman-esque fabric, examining the intersecting lives of a dozen or so Tel Aviv residents.

    Michael Atkinson - Village Voice

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Best Costume Design

    Awards of the Israeli Film Academy (2003)

     
  • Amos Gitai

    Valladolid International Film Festival (2003)

     
  • Amos Gitai

    Venice Film Festival (2003)