A dark dance and deadly Soviet schemes
Foxtrot
Starring Sarah Adler, Lior Ashkenazi. Written and directed by Samuel Maoz. Opens Friday at TIFF Bell Lightbox. 108 minutes. 14A Foxtrot is military lingo for the letter F, code name for a remote Israeli border checkpoint. It’s also a once-well-known dance step. How writer/director Samuel Maoz brings these two disparate concepts together is nothing short of astonishing.
Foxtrot is suffused with tragedy, irony and dark comedy and bolstered by superb performances across the board.
The film opens with the view out the front window of a vehicle on to a dusty, desert road before the story divides itself neatly into three parts. Part one begins when Daphna Feldman opens her front door to see military officers. She collapses, knowing immediately that it’s bad news. Her son Jonathan, a soldier, has died while away on compulsory military duty. As the Feldmans struggle to come to grips with their devastating loss, there’s a glimmer of hope. Any more information would amount to a spoiler.
Part two finds Jonathan (Yonaton Shiray) at Foxtrot, a lonely outpost where he and three compatriots struggle with ennui while living in an old shipping container that’s slowly sinking. A late-night arrival at the checkpoint leads to tragedy, a result of young soldiers forced to live every moment between the extremes of boredom and vigilance.
Part three returns to the Feldman home where the fallout continues as the Feldmans struggle to save a disintegrating marriage.
Maoz uses a lot of overhead camerawork to fine contemplative effect but the real magic is in his clever and surprising script, which shifts the tone dramatically from scene to scene.
He’s clearly no fan of the military, as expressed in father Michael’s underwhelmed reaction to the news his son has received a posthumous promotion as well as other events that, again, would amount to a spoiler.
Sarah Adler as Daphna gets ample opportunity to display her thespian skills. It’s a blistering and beautiful performance that ranges from deep grief and rage to a beginning of acceptance. Lior Ashkenazi is very solid as Michael, a man struggling to come to terms with the overwhelming challenge of facing the future. All four actors playing the young soldiers turn in appealing work.
Foxtrot is a minor masterpiece that audiences will remember for a long time, thanks to the masterful script and some dazzling acting.