| The Vulture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Yaky Yosha |
| Written by | Yaky Yosha |
| Produced by | Dorit Yosha |
| Starring | Shraga Herpaz Nitza Saul Shimon Finkel Hana Maron Andy Richman Anat Atzmon |
| Music by | Yoni Rechter |
| Distributed by | Yaky Yosha Ltd. |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
The Vulture (Hebrew: העיט) is director Yaky Yosha's third feature, first screened in 1981. Its release, not long before the first war in Lebanon, dealt with the immortalization industry due to young war casualties.
The film's screenplay is based on the book The Last Jew by Yoram Kaniuk. The film was screened in Israel for about a month, but following complaints from bereaved parents, the Israeli Council for Film and Play Review decided to censor 20 seconds of it. However, the film was screened uncut at the Cannes Film Festival.
In response to the public controversy, Yoram Kaniuk stated: "The film does not judge bereaved parents, nor does it deal with them. It addresses what happens to a young person after a war".
Plot
Boaz, a young officer, returns home from the Yom Kippur War (1973). He left for the war with two friends and returned with one dead and one badly injured. Down and out and lonely, Boaz aimlessly wanders the streets of Tel-Aviv. To comfort himself, Boaz goes to console his dead friend's parents, only to find himself sucked into a most complex relationship with the bereaved parents. First out of courtesy, then out of cynicism, Boaz gives them all they are missing: a poem their son allegedly wrote, false tales of heroism and some occasional snapshots. Out of thin air Boaz erects a false monument of a dead hero out of a fairly mediocre child, who did not get to leave much behind him.
Before long, Boas is running a full scale immortalization industry, “manufacturing” for each bereaved family a creative, sensitive son. A soldier and a poet. Boaz becomes romantically involved with his dead friend's girlfriend, and simultaneously with the beautiful coordinator in the army's memorial department. And so, by day they serve a holy trinity of comfort and immortality and by night they are fallen angels, ménage à trois. Before too long, the next war breaks out. Boaz is called again for duty. Now an older, experienced officer, Boaz makes sure every single soldier in his company carries in his pocket a personal poem, just in case.
The Vulture represented Israel at the Cannes Festival 1981.
References
- העיט במאי: יקי יושע › 1981 / 96 דקות / עברית, צבע, 35 מ"מ, 1:1.66, מונו
- "הנצחה בעסק _nnp13 — מעריב 6 מאי 1983 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים". www.nli.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-11-14.
- "העיט אינו חיה רעה — דבר 24 אפריל 1981 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים". www.nli.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-12-06.
External links
- The Vulture at IMDb
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