SHOWTIMES: 8:30p - SAT 2/20 | 4:15p - MON 2/22
PART OF THE 2010 ATHENS JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL
The Beetle is a heart-warming story that touches on many issues in the present-day Middle-East.
Director Yishai Orian is married to Eliraz, but is also in love with his old Vokswagen Beetle. Eliraz is about to give birth to their first child, and the soon -to-be-mother is anxious to get rid of the old wreck, which she believes to be absolutely unsafe for a baby. As the argument heats up on whether to junk or invest in rehabilitating the Beetle, Yishai's reluctance to let go of the past leads him on an exciting, funny and touching road trip. During his trip, Yishai traces memories of previous owners of the yellow Beetle, the history of the Beetle in Israel, and Arab-Isareli relations. The emotional and enlightening encoutners blend with Yishai's personal journey toward fatherhood and his attempt to save his two loves.
athensjff.org
For those who have little knowledge on the not too subtle beginnings of the Beetle, it actually had some Nazi Germany roots when Adolf Hitler commissioned it as a cost-effective model for mass production. Hence the vehicle is born, and it is hard to believe that Israel would be more than willing to import a vehicle with such a beginning. But it did, and so we learn little anecdotes from past owners that Yishai managed to track down, for them to share about their respective time with the vehicle that he's driving around now. Some of these are hard to believe but they did happen, and it only goes to show how much history can be packed into something that's almost half a century old.
The road trip to Jordan opened up more stories to tell....especially when it's out of compassion that one helps out a complete stranger from the other side of the border. While it's still a financial transaction, one appreciates the help that one had obtained, and from there builds on some genuine friendships which extended even after the bill had been presented. And for Yishai's own personal memoirs, having time spent with Salam, a Jordanian child, also reinforced his beliefs about fatherhood and helped to allay some fears of real adulthood, and responsibility toward his own child in time to come.
anutshellreview
