With all
the family dramas and
suburban tragedies released every week I often have trouble telling the
difference between them. They're the kind of films that beg for
clichés,
cheap but effective melodramatic moments, and hopeful, neatly-packaged
endings
almost solely because audiences are willing to forgive these tricks
because of
the subject matter. Nir Bergman's Broken Wings takes an
almost
neo-realist approach to the domestic tragedy focusing on the whole of
the
situation with scenes that take a "slice of life" approach rather
than following the traditional 3-Act narrative. There are high
and lows
but they often occur within the same scene or conversation instead of
burying
the viewer in a sea of misery before shining the light and magically
absolving
all characters of their past sins.
The film
opens nine months after
the death of Dafna's husband. Left alone to care for her four
children,
she is both emotionally and physically exhausted to the point that she
can
barely provide for the family financially, let alone give them any
support in
their grieving. In her motherly absence is the oldest daughter
Maya who
while struggling to cope with her own problems is left with the
responsibility
of caring for all her siblings. Much of the family's
friction stems
from the inability of Maya and her mother to communicate, however their
father's death created a noticeable rift between each of
siblings. Yair,
the oldest son, is the most outwardly affected and after passing a year
of high
school (the year following his father's death) without attending
classes, he is
refusing his mother's request to return in favor of continuing his job
as a
giant mouse passing out flyers. He constantly focuses on the
pointlessness of existence and given no positive influence from his
older
sister and mother, who always seem to be criticizing him, he goes
through the
day to day routine only because his fond memories give him barely
enough
strength to get by.
The Ulman's
are a family
approaching disaster. There is no hero, no knight in shining
armor that
rides along to pick them up. They are dealt a bad hand of cards
and
forced to deal with it. Each character with their own
flaws, some
bigger than others, is fascinating to watch because Bergman has the
patience to
allow them to progress naturally. The cloud of grief is always
overhead
and there is the feeling that everything they do is in some way
affected by the
recent tragedy. Sometimes they deal with their problems alone and
other
times their pain and frustration leads to some rather brutal arguments,
but it
always feels authentic. There is a sense that the characters grow
throughout the film - Yair's meeting with an ex-girlfriend, Maya's
phone call
at the end, Bahr's traumatic experience with her brother, etc. - but it
comes
across through subtle shifts in tone and never with the feeling that
they have
reached the top of the hill. The film is devoid of the
manipulative
tactics common to this sub-genre and by allowing the story to unfold
slowly
builds an incredible amount of emotion before allowing the audience to
even
take a breath.
The effect Broken
Wings has
on you will depend partially on your personal background, but the
characters
are so ordinary and identifiable helping to make it a more universal
approach
to the way human beings deal with tragedy. There may not be any
scenes
that will "wow" you or make your jaw drop in amazement, but the
emotion builds slowly as we learn more about the characters and the
reasoning
behind their behavior. It snuck up on me and I found myself
sobbing like
a schoolgirl throughout the final 15 minutes. At no point did I
ever pity
the characters, rather I felt close to them. It's refreshing to
see a
dysfunctional family unit presented so honestly from start to finish
and while
this could lead some people to boredome, it took me to a wonderfully
introspective place that only a few movies have before.
Cinematic
Reflections
