Yossi (2012)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I liked this one better than its predecessor. I think there were more "grown up" "mature" moments, silences that were endearing yet not that forced into the plot. Someone here wrote that it bothered him that just because Yossi was slightly overweight he was presented as repulsive. Of course it is like that when most gay men pray for young lusty flesh. It's the same pressure that women face when media portrays only young top models size 0, have you noticed the men in the advertisement world?. I've even heard people saying that most of the times a fat gay men is almost invisible. It is so with apps like "grindr" and that's what the movie reflects upon but more than that it shows you Yossi's own perception of himself and how he let himself go after losing the man he loved. (I haven't actually met anyone mourning for that long but it is nice to think someone could love you like that).SPOILERS AHEAD Although I really liked there were no big epiphanies and Jagger's mom didn't call Yossi back for a big final Disney hug, I consider that they were certainly trying to be too pleasing with that ending. Ending it with a "forever" is kind of a cheap "They lived happily ever after". I only needed to see Yossi moving forward. That's all. Even if this relationship doesn't last (after knowing themselves for what? 4 days?) it is good for him to put himself out there and come out of his shell.I enjoyed it. It resonates with the loners.

Set in contemporary Israel, YOSSI follows the life of the eponymous hero (Ohad Knoller), a heart surgeon who spends most of his life at work to try to compensate for a non-existent social life. Having lost his lover in combat, Yossi spends his few leisure hours watching porno films on a computer, trying and failing to find dates, and making a pilgrimage to Varda's (Orly Silbersatz's) house - Varda being the mother of his deceased lover. Eytan Fox's film is a stark depiction of loneliness - there is little or no music, and the camera scarcely departs from Yossi's face as he looks at his shapeless figure and wonders whether he will be able to escape the trauma of his loss. However the film takes an optimistic turn as Yossi travels to a resort, and on the way meets up with a group of soldiers. One of them, Tom (Oz Zehavi) takes a fancy to him - even though it takes a long time for Yossi to shed his inhibitions and respond in kind. In a consciously vulgar seaside resort, full of manufactured entertainment and artificial swimming-pools, the two of them spend the night together and subsequently take a life-changing decision. Fox's film offers hope for anyone trying to cope with the pain of losing a loved one.

Barely one week after watching, for the first time, 2002 Israeli film 'Yossi and Jagger', about a secret love affair between two male soldiers, I was surprised to discover it had spawned a sequel that was showing in London! 'Yossi' is set ten years after 'Yossi and Jagger' and sees the titular character, now out of the military, spending his days as a hospital doctor and his nights trawling websites for casual sex. Closeted, he's rather sad and lonely, until an encounter with a group of young soldiers - one of whom is out, proud and (fortunately for Yossi) a bit of a chubby-chaser - leads him to re-evaluate his life. It's not an original plot, and some of the situations in the first film are reproduced here (in 'Yossi and Jagger', Jagger was the object of a young female soldier's unrequited amorous attentions; here, Yossi finds himself fending off a nurse's attempts to win him), but it's a pleasing enough, slow-burning drama, with believable performances, a good range of characters and an ambiguous ending.

Wow. What a beautiful film. So simple yet so... I don't know how to describe it. I watched it with this peaceful relaxed feeling throughout the whole film. The story flows effortlessly. I don't know how the director did it. Everything just seems to work, just like in Yossi & Jagger. It could have been one of those typical films, but yet it works so well that it's special. It's almost like there's magic in the air. The acting is wonderful. Ohad Knoller who play Yossi is absolutely perfect. What a charmer. The film is all about Yossi and Ohad did a fantastic job. He's really the heart and soul of the film. It's not everyday that I would give a "normal" film like this a 10, but I'd give this a 10.