Nina's Tragedies (2003)

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

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

"Nina's Tragedies (Ha-Asonot Shel Nina)" is a charming mix of genres.It's a coming of age story of a young teen boy (played very age appropriately with wide-eyed naiveté by Aviv Elkabeth) who acutely observes his dysfunctional family and their friends without really comprehending their adult emotions.It's also a sophisticated urban comedy about artists and intellectuals that we are more used to seeing in movies set in Paris or New York, including a fashion designer, a book editor, photographer, sculptor and nudist performance artist.The casual fillips that make us know they live in Tel Aviv add unique ramifications, as one character is killed while serving in the Army reserves (which for non-Israelis gives the film a post-9/11 overlay) and another gets caught up in ecstatic Orthodox Judaism.It also capitalizes on unusual twist of fate relationships, as portrayed in such movies as "Next Stop Wonderland" where we think we are watching magic realism but it turns out to be grounded in coincidence.The boy's desperate crush on his beautiful aunt is the mechanism to link the stories, as his voyeurism becomes a metaphor for the viewer and for artists in general, almost a bit too preciously as the boy is, as in most every such film, a budding writer.The film combines cheerfully earthy and frank sexuality with intense romantic longing, so it is a much more ironic view of grief than the Israeli film "Broken Wings (Knafayim Shvurot)" that was released in the U.S. last year. There's a long kiss that matches TV's most sensual kiss of the season in "Lost" with beautiful cinematography of temporary fulfillment. The primarily night-time cinematography is lovely.The acting is wonderful, particularly Ayelet Zurer as the strikingly lovely aunt who has intense chemistry in contrast with the solidity of craggy-faced Alon Abutbul. Anat Waxman makes the quirky mother a real person, not a silly joke. The concluding coda seems too much wishful thinking, even if it is emotionally satisfying.The credits are not translated into English and many of the subtitles are white on white.

I was recommending this film to a friend this morning, but had to carefully avoid mentioned the "teenage peeping tom" aspect of the plot. It's difficult to imagine peeping toms and exhibitionists as being sympathetic, but this movie does imagine them that way.I have to agree with the above assessment: "fully-rounded characters, a tight script and a uniformly excellent cast." The acting is excellent and effortless, the characters unique and well defined, and all of the characters, even the more "minor" ones, are interesting and compelling.This movie could have been all kinds of farce, but instead deftly expresses the depth and complexity of the characters' emotions in the face of some really strange goings on - and in the face of tragedy, pain, love and loss.Ayelet Zurer has us immediately engaged with and caring about Nina. I look forward to seeing more of her work.Very moving film.

I just saw this at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and loved it. It didn't feel like most movies I've seen lately. It didn't try to make the main character change for the better. It accepted all the flaws and moved on, focusing on the story. I loved all the connections and the fact that it's advertised to be "a very sad comedy" is exactly right. it is hilarious at some parts, and you want to cry at others, but it works. it's real. i loved it. beautiful cinematography and acting. Another thing i liked about the movie was it was genuinely from a little boy's point of view. when he has the dream with the man's voice becoming a telephone ring, that was priceless and clearly something that a little child would dream because it would be stuck in their heads. great movie. see it :)

I saw this movie yesterday and i thought it was OK ,but i don't understand what's all the fuss about. The movie tells about the happenings of Nadav, a 13 years old boy, that falls in love with his beautiful aunt, Nina. The movie tells the story through Nadav's eyes from the moment his aunt got married to Haimon, till the moment his father dies of cancer. The movie has some sad and funny moments, and i enjoyed watching it. Most of the actors perform very well, especially Dov Navon, in the role of Menashe that always makes me laugh, even though the character was negative. Anat Waxman and Ayelet Zorer also performed pretty well. In my opinion, the movie's number one problem is that the main character, Nadav, and the actor that plays him, Aviv Elkabetz. First of all, the character is pretty negative: he is peeking at his aunt and some other women together with Menashe, and tends to argue with the people he love and confiscate them(Nina and his Dad). Second of all, the actor wasn't very persuasive and had annoying face. Because of his behavior, i had a problem identifying with the main character and that is what bothered me mostly in the movie(i think i even identified with "The Godfather"'s Michael Corleone more than i identified with him), but i can't blame it all on him. I guess the movie was just not that good. Many parts of it were slow, and it just didn't have such an interesting plot after all (but it is worth seeing). I still don't understand how it got such good reviews and so many Israeli Oscars.i gave it 7/10.