Film tells gentle story of love and loss
Yossi
(out of 4) Starring Ohad Knoller, Oz Zehavi, Orly Silbersatz Banai. Directed by Eytan Fox. 84 minutes. Opens March 22 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. STC In the gentle Israeli drama Yossi, title character Yossi Guttman (superbly underplayed by Ohad Knoller) is a character enveloped in sadness, a cardiac physician in a Tel Aviv hospital whose own heart is on its own kind of life support.
American-born Israeli director Eytan Fox’s sequel to Yossi & Jag
ger, the story of a clandestine love affair between two male soldiers that ends in tragedy, shows Yossi 10 years later, heavier in body and spirit. His return to the civilian world hasn’t been easy, but Yossi is good at getting by without sharing feelings or personal details. Coworkers’ attempts to get to know him — one even tries to talk him into a threesome with a woman — are politely discouraged, while Yos- si’s awkward attempt at finding intimacy ends in disappointment. Shaken from his inward focus by a chance encounter at the hospital with a patient who has a link with his past (Orly Silbersatz Banai), Yossi takes his boss’s advice and hits the road for a holiday. Yossi has no taste for hedonism and chooses the desert of Sinai for his getaway. That is, until he offers a group of stranded young soldiers a lift to the seaside resort of Eilat. The quartet who join him on the road are funny and outgoing, charged with youthful exuberance and quick to poke fun. Reluctantly, Yossi finds he’s charmed by them. He’s also amazed that none of the soldiers seem to have a problem with the sexual orientation of their fellow soldier, Tom (Oz Zehavi), who is out and proud. Handsome Tom has none of the fears or hang-ups that have bedevilled Yossi all his life. But there is comfort in Yossi’s sadness and he’s not going to give that up without a fight, even if he does change his holiday plans with uncharacteristic impulsiveness to swap camel rides for a chaise longue and the occasional company of his new friends. After all, here’s a guy whose poolside vacation reading is Death in Venice. The story unfolds slowly and deliberately. Like Yossi, director Fox is not going to rush the process. Knoller is wonderful as the emotionally cut-off, yet vulnerable Yossi, who yearns for something more from life, but feels both terror at the prospect and unworthiness to claim it.