The teenage Or is willing to make any number of sacrifices to keep her mother on the straight and narrow and preserve some semblance of a normal home life.
That is her virtue, and it will be her downfall in a misstep of heartbreaking proportions in Keren Yedaya’s “Or (My Treasure).”
Or’s mother is not a drug addict or alcoholic, but a prostitute who can’t — or won’t — accept a less degrading and self-destructive way of making a living.
The haunting drama features a terrific pair of unglamorous and uncompromising performances. This is an atypical Israeli film in that it is not a specifically Israeli story — it could take place in any of a hundred cities in the world, which only makes it more disturbing.
The film screens this week in the Berkeley and Mountain View portions of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival before opening Friday, Aug. 5 at the Roxie Cinema.
Yedaya begins her hard-hitting film with uneventful scenes of everyday life. Methodically and almost imperceptibly, without cinematic or dramatic pyrotechnics, she ratchets her story of yearning and hopelessness until it climaxes with one of the most devastating closing shots in memory.
Or’s mother, Ruthie (Ronit Elkabetz), has been discharged from the hospital as the film opens. Treated for some nasty bug she picked up on the streets, she hasn’t fully recovered and relies on Or (Dana Ivgny) for meals, energy and pep talks.
It’s clear that this role reversal — with the daughter taking care of the mother — is not a new development precipitated by Ruthie’s illness but the state of affairs for quite some time now.
Or is essentially left to fend for herself, hardly an ideal situation for a 17-year-old girl. She does attend school pretty regularly, where she does the minimum, sneaks cigarettes and fends off the inquiries of a concerned counselor.
After school, she washes dishes in a small restaurant owned by her upstairs neighbor or collects bottles on the beach. It’s refreshing at first to see a teenager who’s neither lazy nor overindulged, until the desperation of Or’s life becomes apparent.
Her industriousness and perseverance is aimed at getting her mother to give up prostitution and get a straight job. Ruthie’s options are limited, given her lack of experience, skills and contacts, but her resistance is the real problem.
Out of habit or need, after Or is asleep, Ruthie sneaks out at night. It’s as if she prefers the known evil to the unknown.
Or, meanwhile, has her own secret liaisons with boys, where she seeks the acceptance, affection and power that she can’t get at home, school or work.
There is plenty of pain in Or and Ruthie’s lives, but zero self pity. In a sense, the women aren’t victims for they are consistently presented as making their own (albeit wrongheaded) choices.
Yedaya isn’t interested in psychological or sociological analysis, nor for that matter does she have an overtly feminist agenda. An observational piece with an undercurrent of social criticism, “Or” bluntly illustrates the base value that girls are always perceived to have. When they are not allowed to have any other value, a grievous crime is committed.
“Or” contains nudity and sexual situations, although they are handled in a matter-of-fact, nonexploitative manner. In fact, those scenes are more powerful for their lack of sensationalism.
They are put over with remarkable force by Ivgy, who gives a terrifically subtle and wrenchingly vulnerable performance as Or. She is the daughter of the veteran Sephardic star Moshe Ivgy, who appears in the festival entries “Campfire” and “Metallic Blues.”
Alas, like most adolescents, Or does not see the world quite as clearly as she thinks she does. “Or” is a devastating character study and a singularly important film that suggests how little it takes — a lack of guidance, a shortage of opportunities and a bad decision or two — to alter a child’s path forever.
“Or (My Treasure)” plays at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2 at the Mountain View Century and 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4 at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley. Tickets: $9-$11. (925) 275-9490 or www.sfjff.org. The film opens Friday, Aug. 5 at the Roxie Cinema, 3117 16th St. at Valencia. Tickets: $4-8. (415) 863-1087.