Brokeback Jerusalem

There’s nothing orthodox about Haim Tabakman’s directorial debut, Eyes Wide Open, unless you consider the Jerusalem neighborhood that serves as its backdrop. In the film, the Israeli director tackles the taboo subject of an Orthodox Jewish father’s secret life as a gay man. Aaron, the film’s protagonist, runs a small...

By Victor Gonzalez

October 28, 2010

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There’s nothing orthodox about Haim Tabakman’s directorial debut, Eyes Wide Open, unless you consider the Jerusalem neighborhood that serves as its backdrop. In the film, the Israeli director tackles the taboo subject of an Orthodox Jewish father’s secret life as a gay man. Aaron, the film’s protagonist, runs a small kosher butcher shop that’s been in his family for generations. As fate would have it, Aaron falls for a young homeless man named Ezri who visits the shop. Over the course of the film, the two men build an emotional relationship that eventually turns sexual. Reviewers have touted Eyes Wide Open for not glorifying being gay or being an Orthodox Jew but instead showcasing the delicate beauty of both. The film screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and had its North American debut at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. With dialogue in Hebrew with English subtitles, Eyes Wide Open opens at the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
Fri., Nov. 5, 5 p.m., 2010

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