05/21/06 Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi

Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi (2003), directed by Shemi Zarhin

watched w/ Leslie; theater (Galaxy Cinema, Cary, NC); Triangle Jewish Film Festival

Let's ease on down the religious road to another multi-faceted belief...Judaism. We were very excited to go this particular local festival, but alas, with choosing a later movie to see we missed out on the kosher deli and rockin' klezmer band. It would have been nice to see elements of the culture layered with the cinematic presentations. The film we saw was really really good though.Set in modern day Israel, it follows the life of 16 year old Shlomi, who is the constant caretaker of his lovingly dysfunctional family, leaving him no time to ever think about himself. He has quite a few characters in the family, including his divorced parents (controlling mother and hypochondriac father); battling siblings (newly-wed drama queen sister and wanna-be musician/sex symbol brother); and his senile World-War II reminiscent grandfather. In fact, with all of the attention being focused on his relatives, his work in school always suffers and it is questioned whether or not he has a learning disability. What a routine math exam proves to Shlomi's principal is that he is quite a bright young man, and he seeks to enroll him into a specialized school to harness his potential. If these tribulations weren't enough to keep Shlomi busy, a beautiful young woman moves in next door sparking his teenage lust and awkward attempts at love. The one thing that Shlomi does very well is his cooking for people (usually a therapeutic release), so he wields his culinary skills to win the girl over. The whole story is very heart-warming and genuine in showing family ties, combined with young love. Shlomi continues to understand his own importance and faith, and branches out to find his own way...mending many family squabbles along the way...and he wins the girl! Bonus points! The film lends a candid look into not only a Jewish family's life, but one of a Israeli family and the cultural implications of that foreign land.

4 out of 5 stars