DVD Review: Snails In The Rain

Snails In The Rain, which takes place in Tel Aviv in the summer of 1989, is about a young man whose life is disrupted by a series of letters from an anonymous admirer. It stars Yoav Reuveni as Boaz, and Moran Rosenblatt as his girlfriend, Noa. When the film opens, we see Boaz going through his daily routine: picking up his mail, swimming a few laps, going to class, and then going to work at a moving company. He is an attractive man, and the film gives us shots of women checking him out as he goes through his day. So receiving a letter from an anonymous admirer, even from a man, is probably nothing that would cause him any great joy, nor any great alarm. At least not at first.

Boaz is eager to hear whether he has received a scholarship, the reason for his morning trips to the post office. He lives with Noa, and the two make an astonishingly beautiful couple, but you get the sense their lives are on hold until Boaz hears about the scholarship. There are some nice, intimate scenes between Boaz and Noa, like when he kisses her as she steps out of the shower, and she tells him his stubble is scratching her. That’s something we’ve seen and heard before. But then she actually grabs a razor and, without asking or applying any cream, starts shaving his neck. She does it for just a moment, and the look on her face when she nicks him is great. It’s a surprising and delightful moment. I like that the film gives us these moments and establishes the closeness of their relationship, because then we care about them and don’t want anything to disturb what they have.

Boaz goes to the post office every day, hoping for word on the scholarship. But nearly every day there is another letter from the admirer, and we begin to wonder if he is in some way just as excited to receive these letters as he is to receive the scholarship. The man describes his own routine – watering his plants and so on – slowly bringing Boaz into his world. But the man also knows things about Boaz, such as the kind of car he drives. The man tells him, “I think about you incessantly.” That is both flattering and frightening. The letters begin to disturb Boaz; it is like he is becoming as obsessed with the mysterious man as the man is with him. Each time a stranger is close to him – as in a café or on the bus or at the library – Boaz wonders, Is this the guy? And of course we wonder too, and share his nervousness. Boaz is attractive, so of course people will glance at him – both women and men – but now those glances take on a more serious, perhaps even sinister, significance.

Through flashbacks, we learn that Boaz served in the military (or at least went through training). Those scenes feel almost out of place, like they’re from a different world, one of some homoeroticism for Boaz. Could one of the other soldiers be the man now writing to him?

Snails In The Rain is quite good, with plenty of excellent moments. For example, there is a scene where Boaz turns off the shower and he hears (and we hear) a woman crying. We think it’s his girlfriend (earlier she discovered the letters). It turns out to be a female friend, but as Noa comforts her, she looks straight at Boaz, almost in an accusing way, as if to say, “Are you going to hurt me the way her boyfriend hurt her?” Both leads turn in worthy performances, but Moran Rosenblatt as Noa in particular is extraordinary. Her face is so wonderfully expressive, and we identify more with her as the film goes on. What I also love is that the film is not really about the mystery of the man’s identity. It’s more about Boaz’s identity, how these letters affect him, and how they affect Noa as well.

Snails In The Rain was released on DVD on November 11, 2014 through TLA Releasing. The DVD contains no special features.