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Movies / On DVD / Alila
Alila

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Alila (2004)

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41 %
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Reviews Counted: 17

Fresh: 7

Rotten:10

Average Rating: 5.3/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release: Feb 27, 2004 Limited

Synopsis: Amos Gitai's ALILA intertwines the stories of over a dozen distinct characters who inhabit an apartment complex located in a rundown neighborhood of Tel Aviv. Holocaust survivor Schwartz (Yosef Carmon) has enjoyed a peaceful... Amos Gitai's ALILA intertwines the stories of over a dozen distinct characters who inhabit an apartment complex located in a rundown neighborhood of Tel Aviv. Holocaust survivor Schwartz (Yosef Carmon) has enjoyed a peaceful existence living in his small apartment with Linda (Lyn Shiao Zamir), a young Filipino who comes regularly to give him medication and company. But recently, Schwartz's treasured silence has been replaced by a cacophony of bangs, loud sounds and aggressive voices. One of the many obtrusive men audible to Schwartz is Hezi (Amos Lavie). He recently rented one of the nearby apartments in the building for a secret rendezvous with a beautiful and self-deprecating woman named Gabi (Yael Abelcassis). Their intense, unequal and often-violent love affair turns Gabi's life into a public and dissonant garble of psychological pain and physical pleasure. Also disrupting Schwartz's rest is a group of illegal Chinese construction workers who expand one of the apartments into the courtyard, without the landlord's permission. Divorcee Mali (Hanna Laslo) has her own problems as well. Their neighbors' construction workers have been contracted by her ex-husband Ezra (Uri Klauzner), who is himself unwilling to give up his regular rapport with Mali and let her continue her life with a new young boyfriend. And to make matters worse, their son Eyal (Amit Mestechkin) is missing after having deserted his military service. -- © Kino International [More]

Starring: Uri Ran Klauzner, Yael Abecassis, Ronit Elkabetz, Amos Lavie

Starring: Uri Ran Klauzner, Yael Abecassis, Ronit Elkabetz, Amos Lavie, Liron Levo, Hanna Laslo, Lup Berkowitch, Yosef Carmon, Amit Mestechkin, Lyn Shiao Zamir

Director: Amos Gitai

Director: Amos Gitai
Screenwriter: Amos Gitai, Marie-Jose Sanselme
Producer: Amos Gitai
Studio: Kino International

[See More Credits]

DVD Info

 
 
 
 
Release:

Nov 9, 2004

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Additional Release Material:

  • Theatrical Trailers

Text/Phot Gallery:

  • Stills Gallery

Reviews for Alila

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1 - 19 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Gitai delivers an amazing film every bit as satisfying as his masterpiece Kippur (2001).

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
02/01/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image

Suggesting that the strain of the Arab conflict has gotten to the Israelis and that peace might only be a pipe dream.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
11/24/04
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

...Gitai has populated the story with one unlikable character after another, making it impossible for the viewer to connect with anything on screen.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
08/21/04
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image

It's a bit of a mess.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
07/30/04
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Ratings Image

For all its flaws, Alila is an interesting social issue film.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
07/30/04
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies
Ratings Image

It's too acerbic to be funny and too detached to be really moving.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
07/30/04
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Ratings Image

The story and even the characters turn out to be less interesting than the overview it gives us of the way Israelis live now, its portrait of a dislocated society where despair rumbles beneath the surface of everyday life.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
06/10/04
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

For non-Israeli audiences, Alila is an alternately illuminating and confounding glimpse into seldom-seen aspects of the country.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/10/04
Sheri Linden
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image

Though absorbing enough, Alila must be counted a noble failure, if only because its efforts to follow the screwed-up lives of 12 hapless souls in a seedy Tel Aviv apartment building finally add up more to mere mimicry than commentary.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
06/10/04
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Onion AV Club | comment Comment
06/05/04
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/17/04
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Gitaļ's portrait of self-destructive lives is certainly honest, but his direction is suffocating.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
04/22/04
Ed Gonzalez
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Ratings Image

None of the characters or situations truly manages to hold our attention, though there are some arresting moments.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
03/04/04
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Ratings Image

Extremely well-acted and generally absorbing.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/02/04
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

Gitai ... records the comings and goings with a keen eye.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
02/27/04
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Ratings Image

Another piece of essential viewing for outsiders trying to understand life in the Middle East.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
02/26/04
E! Online
Ratings Image

An interesting, if not entirely successful, adaptation of an excellent book.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/26/04
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

Amos Gitai's acidly comic study of life in a flimsy Tel Aviv apartment complex is a sour urban mosaic whose seedy characters, try as they might, can't get out of one another's faces.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
02/26/04
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
02/24/04
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice
1 - 19 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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