The movie opens quietly, the camera approaching a man
from behind as he makes a phone call. And we see an elderly woman who, with the
help of her walker, goes to answer the phone. Then suddenly, a large, echoing voice
on the phone calls out the woman’s name, “Zelda.” The woman asks, “God?”
And we see both sides of the conversation, as she tells the man she believes to
be God that her cancer is back, and the man, who is not God, tells her to be
strong, not to give up. He tells her there currently aren’t any vacancies in
heaven, and so she should continue her treatments. The man, Yehezkel, a retired
inventor, is doing what he can to help her live, while his wife, Levana,
lingers behind his chair, clearly supportive.
The film takes place mainly in a retirement home where
the residents find they really have to help each other out, that there isn’t
much help or understanding coming from outside their small world. The film
establishes this by not developing many outside characters, and keeping the
perspectives that of the residents of the retirement community. Soon we meet
Max, another elderly man being cared for, but clearly suffering. When Yehezkel
and Levana go to visit him, Max tells them, “Help me get it over with.” Yana,
his wife, wants to help him die, saying, “They’re keeping him alive as
though dying is a crime.” While dying might not be a crime, assisting a
suicide is, and so they are unsure at first how to proceed, or if they in fact
should proceed. Death is obviously on the minds of those who dwell in the
retirement community, even on Levana’s mind, as she is intent on passing on one
of her recipes to her grown daughter.
Though Levana disapproves, Yehezkel decides to build a
suicide machine based on one he sees on the internet, and a small group of
friends help Max commit suicide. But then soon another man comes to them,
asking for help. The man, Dubek, threatens to turn them in to the authorities
if they don’t help him, making him less of a sympathetic character, though of
course we understand his desperation.
There are many heart-wrenching moments in this film, like
when Levana, who is beginning to suffer from dementia, doesn’t recognize
Yehezkel, and keeps repeating that she wants her husband, while he is seated
right there beside her. The only weak moment in the movie is the sequence where
suddenly many of the characters each sing a portion of a song. This is
obviously taken straight out of Magnolia, and it is for that reason that
it pulled me out of the story momentarily; also, the sequence wasn’t far enough
into the film to have the emotional impact that it did in Magnolia. But
other than that, this is an excellent and engaging film.
The Farewell Party was written and directed by
Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit, and was released on DVD on September 22, 2015
through First Run Features. The film is presented in its original Hebrew with
English subtitles. The DVD contains no special features.
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