Walk on Water (2004)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Pretty Good

Overrated

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Every rule has its exceptions. A Jewish friend of mine says that Israeli movies were crap. Perhaps as a whole this view is correct, but there are exceptions, as "Walk on Water". If you have to characterize this movie in a few words, it's just actually superior quality cinematography. Extremely well made film with a leisurely pace, without unnecessary artificially blown drama, despite the dramatic story that it tells. Curiously, it involved all clichés that we would expect from this kind of cinema: German war criminals, Israeli agents of the almighty Mossad, palestinian terrorism, etc. However, the strangest is that it does not irritate the viewer because it is woven exclusively organic and masterly in the script.Directing, cast, the camera and soundtrack are perfectly matched and the end result is another proof of the great hidden potential of Israeli cinema. Frankly, I'm curious why Jewish filmmakers in Hollywood have such high achievements and success, but their compatriots in Israel seem undervalued by the audience and critics. In any case, Israeli cinema is developing in an upward spiral, and we can expect from it another surprising good news, as "Walk on Water".

This is a film about a man discovering his conscience; it is brilliantly written, as we meet an impassive, chilly killer-for-hire go quietly about his business, who in the course of his work becomes personally involved with the family of his next victim To reveal too much about the plot would be to spoil a viewer's involvement--it is lushly photographed in Israel, in Germany, deals with the residuals of Fascist rule, with sexist preconceptions, with the nature of love; it's subtle set of themes creep up on you after long after you view the film and realize how much of the film could have gone awry with it's complex overlays of interlacing themes and careful mixture of politics and personal stories.

Walk on Water is a film worth catching. The plot of the Mossad man asked to go undercover to watch the German grandson and Kibbutzim granddaughter of a major Nazi is already fascinating - but the script and acting delivers massively in making this more than simply a drama. It would be wrong to even label it a thriller - it is a complex, yet beautiful piece, with a good sense of pace, that centers around a variety of themes involving identity and international belonging.The wider notions of culture and identity and even sexuality that are raised here are both poignant and interesting. It is a film that is easy to watch, but raises at the same time interesting questions while you're watching it. The mix of tourism, kibbutzim, police work, and the city life coupled with the contrast between the individuals makes this a satisfying watch.All in all this Israeli production shines with intelligence, good drama, and a sense of values that not inherently obvious invade and stay after the credits roll. Recommended.

This is a gripping and fascinating Israeli film from director Eytan Fox about a cold-blooded Mossad assassin, Eyal (Lior Ashkenazi), and his total transformation. It features some splendid location filming, including a very modern Tel Aviv, along with Istanbul and Berlin.The film opens with a chilling assassination of an Hamas commander out for the day in Istanbul with his family. Eyal poses as a fellow tourist yet dispatches the Hamas man with a Bulgarian style, 'accidental' injection while passing him by the docks (a bit like the infamous one on London in the 1970s).The assassin has a troubled personal life, his wife committing suicide when he arrives back. But this is when the film gets interesting; Eyal's commander in Mossad is Menachem (Gideon Shemer), and he now sends him on a special mission to locate an aged former German war criminal, Alfred Himmelman (Ernest Lenart), which basically involves posing as a tourist guide to a brother and sister, the latter now living on a kibbutz.The kibbutz is the antithesis of Eyal's normal life – communal living, a sort of watered down socialism, not-to-mention awful Israeli folk music and dancing. Also, the grandson of the war criminal is a total leftie and homosexual, seducing the odd Arab along the way. You can imagine how the tough-guy, Bruce Springsteen listening hard man reacts to that.For me, the best part of this excellent film is when Eyal, attending the birthday party of the war criminal's son in Berlin, is confronted with the man he is supposed to 'terminate', Himmelmann. In a gripping, chilling scene reminiscent of Marathon Man, the ancient war criminal is brought into the party, accompanied by a drip. You want to shoot him there and then, but, alas, Eyal has 'moved on'.The script is brilliant, and the main protagonist undergoes the classic transformation, in the end becoming great friends with Axel and marrying his sister.Well worth watching.