The film starts with a small boy looking at the man sitting behind him on a ferry crossing. All seems normal until the man stabs the boy’s father with a syringe and leaves him for dead. We learn that the man is Eyal, a Mossad agent who looks a lot like Steve Carrell, and the dead man was a Hammas leader.
Eyal heads home but finds that his wife has killed herself, and although a bit upset, he doesn’t show it too much and resolves to get back to work. His bosses are less keen and, with Eyal refusing to see a therapist, they refuse to let him go on a sensitive mission. To keep him occupied, they give him a mission to befriend a German tourist and his sister who is working on a kibbutz. The Israelis have intelligence that a Nazi war criminal may still be kicking about and they hope that his grand kids can lead Eyal to his target and to 'Get him before God does'.
Things go well at first with visits to the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. The German, Axel, tries to recreate Jesus’ miracle of walking on water but tells Eyal such a divine act needs to be earned. The sister, Pia, takes a shine to Eyal, and the three enjoy a night in Tel Aviv before Eyal leaves early when they go to a gay night club. Eyal isn’t too keen on gays or Germans - or Arabs for that matter. The relationship goes frosty when Eyal takes against Axel’s Arab boyfriend and about him being ripped off over the purchase of a Del Boy Jacket.
The three split up with no news of the aged Nazi but a last surveillance tape suggests he may attend Axel’s father’s 70th birthday party. Eyal heads to Berlin and has his preconceptions challenged as it is quite nice, as are the people, apart from the skinheads he beats up when they attack some drag queens. He manages to salvage some of his cover and secures an invite to the big party. Will the surprise guest show up and will Eyal work through his many issues?
This was an excellent film that I enjoyed throughout. It was a well worn path, with the world weary and prejudiced agent slowly seeing the other side of the coin, but it was so well done and with engaging characters it was impossible not to buy in.
It was clear that Eyal was on a path to redemption and the notion of all Germans being bad, which was drummed into him as a child, slowly evaporated as we got to know the free spirits of Axel and Pia. They were actually too nice - she’s picking fruit and he’s teaching asylum seekers to dance - they could have made one fart a lot so it wasn’t so clear cut!
The locations around Israel were excellent and beautifully shot. You’d want to go if it wasn’t for all the Mossad agents creeping about and the bombings that are reported throughout. The cast were all excellent with Lior Ashkenazi a standout as Michael Scott, sorry, the agent with baggage.
The birthday party was good fun and I liked the epilogue too - it wasn’t a big surprise but welcome all the same.
Overall an excellent and worthwhile film about tolerance, forgiveness and of course redemption. Well worth looking up.
Best Bit : Skinheads v Drag Queens ‘W’ rating 21/23
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