“Avanim” is one of those films in which it takes a long time for nothing to happen.
In this story of a bored, dissatisfied and more than a little selfish Tel Aviv wife and mother, French-born Israeli director Raphael Nadjari sets a pace that makes a Jacques Tati film look like the Keystone Kops.
The movie, which translates as “Stones,” is co-presented by the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the S.F.-based Israel Center. It plays at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
From the opening moments, in which the lithely beautiful Michale (Assi Levy) impatiently drags on a cigarette before meeting up for an early morning rendezvous with her lover, the audience understands that this is a directionless and unhappy woman.
Forty-five minutes into the film, after she’s been a wet blanket to her decent enough father and cuckolded husband, the audience still clearly understands that Michale is a directionless and unhappy woman.
And then her lover is blown up by a terrorist en route to a tryst.
So Michale, who had previously been skulking around the film wearing one of three expressions — tired, surly or both — now shifts into extremely tired, surly or both mode.
Basically, this translates into people asking, “What’s the matter?” “Is something wrong?” and “What did I do?” a lot.
It isn’t as if Levy is a poor actress. Watching her emote — or not — isn’t awkward and painful along the lines of witnessing Brad Pitt fluctuate between grief and rage in “Seven.” The blame must go back to the writer, Nadjari. He has penned a film so shallow that all Levy can do is look bored all the time, because that’s what the part calls for.
And, while we’re on Nadjari’s case, is it really necessary that we hear five minutes of uninterrupted davening in a synagogue scene? Every time someone lights a cigarette, do we need see her smoke the whole thing?
Since Nadjari seems to enjoy filling scenes with stone-faced characters overcome with ennui undertaking mundane tasks, it’s no surprise that Michale’s “breakdown” is simply an extended wordless montage of driving and walking through working-class Tel Aviv all night long.
When her distraught husband and father confront her the next day and ask, quite rightfully, where the hell she’s been, guess what? She’s tired and surly and tells them she’ll go wherever she wants and walk around all night if she feels like it.
Frankly, by this point, Michale will remind a huge portion of audience members of every bad girlfriend they’ve ever had. Nadjari, in fact, never deems to explain why Michale sought the comforts of another man; for all the painfully slow character development, the husband simply comes off as a hard-working, decent guy and the lover is virtually anonymous.
After 100 minutes of ennui, the film’s final moments devolve into ill-fitting melodrama as Michale is harassed by enraged yeshiva bochers (alert watchers will certainly pick up some colorful Hebrew vocabulary here).
And, like the main character, audience members will probably leave the theater tired, surly or both.
“Avanim” plays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St., S.F. Tickets: $7 general admission, $6 seniors, students and center members. Information: (415) 978-2787.