The Assistant, however, also falls back on its melodramatic roots as the other thief (played by Jaimz Woolvet) re-emerges to stalk Frank, threatening to expose his one-time companion's true identity. Riddled with resentment and controlled by alcohol, thief number two doesn't progress: He's as bad-natured at the end of the film as he is in the beginning.
Although director Petrie -- a veteran Canadian filmmaker (Fort Apache: The Bronx, 1981) with a background in television -- skillfully manages the film's dialogue, The Assistant is more of an academic piece with a traditional aesthetic. Based on Bernard Malamud's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1957 novel of the same name, the film stays firmly stuck in the candor and simplicity of Hollywood's golden era, where the good find redemption in love while the bad find only the wrath of God. But it is also a remarkably spiritual film. Frank, for instance, is devoted to Saint Francis -- the holy anchorite who forms his wife and family out of snow in order to relieve his solitude, while Helen searches for answers in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. This Raskolnikov comparison with Frank's demeanor gives some substance to what can be an overly dramatic plot. And regardless the original book's distinction, The Assistant is hindered by a conservative and overly long narrative, a result of the director's desire to stay faithful to the book's roots, sacrificing a more contemporary cinematic pacing. Still, in this pre-Holocaust world, there's a compelling story in the struggle over the place of morality, honesty, religion, and love. -- Sergio Giral
Yana (Evelyn Kaplun), without
her friends
Michal Zuaratz ignites passion at the snap of her fingers
Related Content
More About
LOVE AT SECOND SIGHT
This Israeli movie opens with a suggestive closeup of a beautiful young woman, Nina, being photographed by her grandfather. The photography session leads to ruminations about the art of photography, described by the old man as "something more than pushing a button" and as capturing in a moment "a slide of life." With this premise writer/director Michal Bat-Adam develops a wonderful story out of Love at Second Sight (1998), with scarce resources and a lot of wisdom. The plot's simple treatment highlights the drama in a testimonial style, sometimes resembling Godard's first films, even echoing Truffaut. This spontaneous approach to reality, seen through the lens of Nina's camera, captures an interesting view of daily life in Tel Aviv, and helps develop an original love story as well as a tender relationship between the grandfather and granddaughter in a parallel retrospective.
Nina (Michal Zuaratz, who resembles a young Natalie Wood) is a photographer for a local newspaper who uses the camera inherited from her grandfather as a talisman. After photographing a dramatic scene in which a man jumps from a roof, Nina becomes obsessed with the face of the young man she has accidentally captured on film. She begins to search for him all over the city, even though her friends try in vain to dissuade her. Scene by scene, Nina's quest uncovers different types of men and social categories, from the university student to the new immigrant, and demonstrates what a woman in love can and will do.
At times the director breaks from the story line to reconstruct Nina's childhood, family life, and national affairs with a simplicity that makes this film a minimalist gem full of energy and beauty. We see the photographer grandfather taking photos of Ben Gurion sleeping in a conference; we see his loves; we see him narrate, through images, his memoirs.
Bat-Adam, a renowned stage and screen actress, also has managed to accomplish a celluloid feat for those who enjoy simply made love stories. She's coaxed delicious performances out of her lead actors, and has crafted a fresh and passionate film. The action is agile, and the sharp cuts between sequences create a dynamic succession of events, which are contrasted with quiet shots of characters telling their own stories. Some of these include tales of love's madness, of an extraordinary passion that allows one to give up a lover to someone else as proof of their depth of emotion. The script is witty and moves graciously through unconventional passages, making it a real modernist romance. Nina's search ends in an airport, where dreams on film turn to flesh and bones. -- Sergio Giral
