Broken Wings (2002) User Reviews

moving family drama

[Buddy-51 · 8/10 · 10 January 2005]

"Broken Wings" is a poignant, slice-of-life drama about an Israeli family's coming to terms with the death of their father nine months earlier. The widow, Dafna, is a 43 year-old mother of four who works endless hours as a midwife at the local hospital, both to earn money to support her family as well as to avoid having to face the reality of the tragic loss she has suffered. For while she is a loving, devoted mother, she seems unable to provide the guidance and solace her children need in this time of incomprehensible grief and suffering. Thus, the children are left to cope more or less on their own as best they can - and this on top of all the problems young people face just doing the ordinary, day-to-day business of growing up. Her oldest son, Yair, has responded to his father's death by dropping out of high school and adopting a fatalistic philosophy, declaring that life is nothing more than a series of random events that mean nothing against the backdrop of an immensely vast, impersonal universe. The oldest daughter, 17 year-old Maya, has hopes of becoming a successful rock musician, but finds herself having to carry the burden of raising the two younger children while their absent mother spends most of her waking hours at work. The two youngsters, Ido and Bahr, cope with the loss of their father and the inadvertent neglect from their overworked mother in various and heartbreaking ways. The narrative is paced in such a way that we learn about the life of this family only through bits and pieces of carefully revealed information, with each scene exposing more and more about the people and their situation until ultimately a full picture emerges. In fact, it is a good half hour at least before we even know that the father is dead.

The movie takes a very low-keyed approach to its subject matter, showing, in an understated fashion, the devastating effect the death of a parent can have on a family unit. The film is filled with lovely little moments of humor, warmth and insight that draw us deeply into the drama. We see how each of the various characters responds to the situation and to each other, watching as the feelings of guilt, resentment and recrimination bubble to the surface. As a second crisis hits the family, a whole host of long-dormant feelings and emotions finally break out in open conflict. Yet, as with a wound that needs to be cauterized before it can heal, this second trauma proves to be the rupture the family needs to begin its process of recovery. The amazing thing is that writer/director Nir Bergman is able to do all this in an economical 82-minute running time. Yet, even with that limited length, the filmmaker captures the texture of the family members' daily lives through an impressive array of sharply drawn subsidiary characters who play an integral part in the central drama.

Bergman has also been blessed with first-rate actors in the primary roles. Orly Silbersatz Banai as Dafna, Maya Maron as Maya, and Nitai Gaviratz as Yair deliver, beautifully realistic, heartfelt performances. The other cast members are all excellent as well.

"Broken Wings" is a small, overlooked gem that gets to the heart of what it means to be a family. It would be a shame for anyone to miss it.

An exception to a depressing rule

[shneur · 8/10 · 5 May 2005]

There seems to be a whole genre of films recently ,the theme of which is young people's daunting search for purpose in life in a world where external sources of values are no longer accepted. I am thinking of "Garden State," "I Heart Huckabees," "Closer " etc. The consensus, so to speak, if these movies are to be taken as a mirror of reality, is that there is no purpose to be found, and the only grounds for relating to other human beings at all is sexual attraction, or its concomitant sexual competition. In fact, I watched this film and "Thirteen" together, and found them strangely parallel. I mention all this because Knafayim Shvurot is different from all the others in a small but fundamental respect: here the characters have not quite given up the search. Perhaps this reflects a difference between Israeli culture which, jaded though it is, is indisputably younger, and American culture which seems to be declining into both hedonism and vicious religiosity. I didn't realize it while I was watching, but was somehow not surprised to notice afterward that the "family" of characters is played by a real-life family. I couldn't help wondering how the experience affected them...

A film full of heart - touching performances all round. Kudo's to writer-director Nir Bergman for a poignant feature film.

[ruby_fff · 8/10 · 20 May 2004]

I fell in love with the trailer every time I heard the singing, and smiled at the video recording segment where Dafna was told not to say she's 43 with 4 kids but say 39, and ended up saying she has 39 kids. I was most eager when I finally get to see "Broken Wings." It was a filmic experience full of human, family emotions - those ever anguish-ridden teen growing pains (conflicts and raptures) - I was quite pleased, tear-jerker and all.

Broken Wings, aka K'Nafayim Shvurot (2002), a film from Israel in Hebrew with subtitles, is the debut feature of writer-director Nir Bergman. It may seem like yet another movie about teens, mother and kids in a struggling household - somehow there's a different tone and humanity level that's most warm and welcoming in feeling. Good story, thoughtful plot with trying crisis, and heartfelt performances all round. And the music - especially the song Maya sings, the lyrics and the guitar rhythm I really felt akin to.

It's a close-knit family - it shows: the dialog between mother and daughter, the interactions among teen sister and brother, elder brother and youngest sister, brother to brother, mother to sons - there's a lot going on and not without sprinkles of humor (and playfulness) injected in between. It's a poignant script Bergman delivered. And what a cast - each of the family members was portrayed with such nuance. Orli Zilverschatz-Banay is Dafna the mother, a central tour de force. Equally matched is the strong performance by Maya Maron as the daughter, whose sadness and bottled-up self-blame became a huge chip on her shoulder - struggling with her musical talent (composing and singing) and trying to be vulnerably strong ('I can take care of myself' persona) as a responsible daughter/sister/student/band member - life without Dad is so tough, or is it? Mother doesn't care, doesn't have time to love me, is it so? Ido, the younger son, reminds me of Edward Yang's "Yi Yi" - also a young boy on his own while the grown-ups and siblings exist in a different world. Daniel Magon plays Ido and Eliana Magon as the little sister Bahr - the pair had a street crossing scene with just as much tension felt watching their performances together. Nitai Gvirtz portrayed teen brother Yair, who's a character unto himself. Vladimir Friedman is Dr. Valentin, in the tension relieving role of Dafna's colleague, provided breather and smiles to the audience as well as the strung-out working mother of four.

Nir Bergman took the time to show us the different character developments - not shying away from confronting situations or gutsy parental-teenage tensions. "Broken Wings" depicts how a family unit copes with grief and how crisis unites, coming through with strength and renewed understanding. It's a worthy family drama. We're fortunate to have effective subtitles by Suzy de Lowe. Bravo to Sony Pictures Classics for the steady support in distributing gems of small independent foreign films.

An observation: the cause of death was given in a low key manner - nothing political about it as it seems to be a possible natural happening. Hence the central energy is more focused on the mother and daughter relationship - such wisdom in plot progression choices. If you're interested in a film that has a bit more political tone, try the Palestinian film by writer-director Elia Suleiman, "Divine Intervention" (2002) aka Yadon Ilaheyya, in Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles - it's quietly political, pathos with poetic tenderness.

Emotional roller coaster

[rumred · 4 July 2004]

One of the best Israeli films ever. Israel had good actors, and good drama but never before have I seen such a well developed script. I guess the secret belongs to the fact that the movie started as a short film when Nir Bergman studied cinema, and then he developed it to a full length movie. Moreover, this movie is one of the representatives of the new Israeli movie age, after understanding Israel cannot produce big budget American style movies, and started producing small touching movies.

The story in a nutshell is about a single mom with four kids, trying to overcome the loss of their father. The movie time quota is within one week, so everything happens very fast, and sometimes it feels like someone is hitting you with a hammer in the stomach. other times it feels like someone is squeezing you for tears. Generally speaking the movie sure is an emotional roller coaster.

The movie follows the story of the rebellious daughter who is torn between her will to be a singer and her family duties because her mom is working night shifts as a nurse. It also follows the enigmatic closed son who had to be the strong man of the family because of the death of the father, and the effect the death had on his personality, emotions, and his functioning in school. Last but not least is the small child who has some kind of an accident during the film, which makes everything move even faster and more emotional.

The actors (especially Maya Meron, but that's because I'm a fool for her) are doing a great acting job and are very moving and realistic.

All in all, this is a great movie, highly recommended.

A brilliant and emotionally honest film

[howard.schumann · 10/10 · 26 April 2004]

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise." - Paul McCartney

The trauma that accompanies the sudden loss of a beloved family member is being repeated all over the Middle East today in both Israeli and Palestinian homes. Behind the headlines, however, is the human tragedy, the stories we never read about. This story is told metaphorically in Nir Bergman's brilliant first effort Broken Wings. It is not an overtly political film, but the implications are clear. Set in the Israeli port city of Haifa, it depicts the effect of the loss of the family's patriarch on each member of the Ulman family, perhaps suggesting the emotional state of Israel since the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. The 83-minute film won accolades at the Berlin International Film Festival and has been a huge critical and commercial success in Israel, winning nine Israeli Academy Awards in 2003.

Beautifully expressive Maya Maron in her first feature role is an Israeli teenage singer-songwriter (also named Maya) who dreams of becoming a rock star and wears wings when she sings in her local band. As the film opens, Maya is singing a song she wrote in memory of her father who died suddenly nine months ago, for reasons not disclosed until the end of the film. Her song is interrupted when her mother Dafna (stage actress Orly Zilberschatz-Banai), a nurse, phones and tells her that she has been called to work on the night shift at the local hospital and needs Maya home to take care of brother Ido (Daniel Magon) and sister Bahr (Eliana Magon). Maya emphatically refuses then relents but the tension between mother and daughter is palpable. Maya, who was with her father when he died, does not fully grasp the guilt behind her bottled-up rage and takes out her anger on her mother who is both irritating and sympathetic as she labors wearily to keep the family from a collision course.

We learn that each family member is suffering the father's loss in his or her own way. Dafna stayed in bed for three months leaving the children to do the parenting and the results are reflected in their erratic behavior. Six-year old Bahr wets her bed and Ido carries out a strange ritual of filming himself while jumping into an empty pool. The oldest brother Yair (Nitai Gaviratz), also a teenager, has been suspended from school and hands out leaflets on commuter trains dressed in a mouse costume while expressing a nihilistic philosophy to anyone who will listen. His inability to respond to the words father, fear, and anger during a word association test prompts his school counselor to deny him re-admittance until he receives treatment, but he does not help his cause when he tells the counselor "Your words are meaningless. This conversation does not exist and you don't exist."

Yair tells Maya that "things could be worse", and they do get worse before they get better. In fact, the catalyst for redemption comes in a life-threatening accident that allows the family to regroup, take responsibility for their lives, and begin the process of healing. Broken Wings sounds depressing but in the hands of the skillful direction of Mr. Bergman its sadness is balanced with humor and the strength and dignity of its characters. The film does not break any new ground but displays the kind of insight that allows us to learn something new about ourselves. Though rooted in reality, Broken Wings has a heart that leaps and a soul that soars and is a film that I truly loved.

A Beautiful Unpretentious Film

[saharazambony · 10/10 · 20 September 2005]

More and more these days I come out of a film feeling cheated. I find that especially true of American films where technically everything is wonderful and yet there is an emotional laziness that makes me feel unfulfilled. The writer needed to write three more drafts and the director should have gone the extra mile with the actors but instead chose to focus on lens choices and fast slick cuts. Broken Wings is the antithesis of this phenomena. A wonderfully unpretentious, deeply personal and beautifully written piece that leaves you with the feeling that perhaps your life isn't so bad after all. The film follows the life of a mother and her four children desperately trying to cope with the emotional and financial aftermath of their father's death. The brilliance of the writing in my opinion lies in the ability of writer/director Nir Bergman to convey the devastating fatigue and hopelessness of poverty with a wonderful wit and humor. The camera serves the plot rather than the ego of the camera man. The entire cast delivers a remarkable performance that is understated and personal. Eliana Magon who plays the little girl, looks like she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Run to see this movie.

A death in the family

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 13 April 2004]

This film was a surprise. Israel's film industry is doing just fine, and judging by some of the latest movies that we have seen from that country, they have a very promising future.

Director Nir Bergman knows a thing or two about how to reach an audience. The story that he presents here is one about the tremendous pain this family is going through after the beloved father dies in a freakish manner, leaving behind a wife and four children that without him are at the breaking point.

Dafna, the mother, is sleepwalking through life; she appears to be sleepy most of the time. Having to work odd hours, she is losing the grip of things at home. Maya, the oldest daughter, is the logical choice for Dafna to rely on, but this teen ager feels her life is being torn between the family loyalty and her own singing ambition. The older son, Yair, also is facing very hard times adapting to a life that is uncertain, at best. The other two children are just plain lost because everyone else is absorbed in his own conflict.

The acting is first rate. Dafna, played with conviction by Orly Silbersatz Banai, is excellent as the over burdened mother. Maya Maron is the rebellious Maya, basically the central role of the story. Miss Maron plays convincingly. The rest of the cast is very good.

We can expect other fine films from Mr. Bergman in the future, I'm sure.

Brilliant Film: Extremely Moving & Highly Significant

[films42 · 10/10 · 9 March 2004]

Great works of art enable us to grasp the universal thru exquisite presentation of the particular.

In this astonishing first feature, precocious young director Nir Bergman presents the story of an `ordinary' Israeli family. But once we understand that the missing father is actually Yitzhak Rabin (the Israeli Prime Minister assassinated by a right-wing Jewish zealot in 1995), it's also a brilliant metaphorical examination of the national psyche. I know of no film that better explains both who the Israelis are today & who they want to be.

The whole world needs to listen!

Nice heartwarming film

[Scorching · 7/10 · 24 June 2004]

Going into this movie i had little knowledge regarding the film just the basic plot and that it had won some awards in Israel. In fact it's the first ever Israeli film i've ever seen.

Looking at the rather simple plot line I was worried that it would be too boring. I gotta say that despite the simple plotline that it was still rather meaningful as I'm sure many families around the world experience such trials in their lives. Parents and their children fighting even over the smallest things.

I just thought they could have expounded a little more on the lives of the family after the death of the father. Indeed too short at 80 mins. I thought the acting was pretty good especially from the two lead actresses. You could really feel the tension between the two as they argue.

Nice film overall with good acting performances

Good stuff for serious foreign film fans

[=G= · 8/10 · 30 July 2004]

"Broken Wings" is a slice of life flick which focuses on an Israeli family of 5 (mom and two male/female pairs of sibs - one younger and one older) as they struggle to find their new normal following the loss of the family patriarch. Although there's little story to be found between the credits of this well wrought and finely nuanced film, what initially appears to be depressing familial dysfunction emerges with clarity as a rare example of the dialectic of strength, courage, and humanness in a time of grief and emotional pain. Not for everyone, this subtitled, unglamorous, and pathos drenched flick will play best with mature, serious fans of foreign films. (A-)

amazingly touching!

[shira_Y · 10/10 · 7 November 2003]

I've seen this film 3 times by now, and I just can't get enough of it. The story is simple, without special effects and shots which were taken from a plane or something like this, just a simple story about a simple family. But this what makes this movie so real. So real that you can see yourself in it. So real you realize that you speak in the exact same way and so real it will make you cry. No matter where you live. More than you see Haifa, mors than you hear Hebrew, you see human-beings, you hear yourself. And this is the amazing thing about this film. This the thing will make you cry and this the thing that will make you love this story so much.

Israel is no different from anywhere else

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 26 September 2023]

(2003) Broken Wings/ Knafayim Shvurot (In Hebrew with English subtitles) DRAMA

Written and directed by Nir Bergman with the story set up of a father abrupt passing forcing on the hardships of a single parent of a mother, Dafna Ulman (Orly Silbersatz) while looking after her four children, Yair Ulman (Nitai Gvirtz), Maya Ulman (Maya Maron), Ido Ulman (Daniel Magon) and baby Bahr. Second oldest sibling, 17 year old, Maya Ulman has aspirations to become a singer. Conventional, but interesting to witness how tough life can be by trying to make ends meet while living in some impoverished part of a Israel city.

Touching Portrait of a Broken Family

[noralee · 9 April 2004]

"Broken Wings (Knafayim Shvurot)" is a frank, involving portrait of a family coping with grief and stress.

Even more than such films as "Ordinary People," debut writer/director Nir Bergman has a sure touch in showing us the pressures and responses of a full range of individual family members, from the depressed working mother to her children -- five year old daughter, ten year old son, and and their teen brother and sister.

Within very realistic crowded and complicated living, working, school, and peer friendship environments, we see each as distinct individuals with guilts, needs, issues, and talents, and as the dependent members of a family unit dealing with past and present pain and crises, including through music.

I don't know the technicalities of the film stock, but the grittiness of the cinematography contributes to the naturalism, as well as the un-Hollywood, un-pretty look of the actors.

As an Israeli film what also adds to how touching it is is its non-political, non-geographically-necessary-specific content. This is just a beautiful human story of love and responsibility.

While the opening credits are bilingual Hebrew and English, the closing credits, annoyingly, are not.

Hidden gem

[gresam · 10/10 · 19 May 2003]

This is the first time I have been moved to make a comment on a film. The reason I feel compelled to do so is that this film was so good, and I only saw it completely by chance, as it was recommended by a friend. It is definitely one of the best films I have seen. For the first work by a new director it is very impressive, and I expect him to go far. If you get the chance to watch it, then do.

Moving Family Drama

[[e-mail] · 10/10 · 10 October 2004]

Every member of this moving family drama begins alone, each suffering in his or her own way from the sudden loss of the husband/father. The youngest child, just entering kindergarten wets the bed (with help from her older brother). The brother is mostly angry and silent, courting danger by leaping into an empty pool from increasing heights. The 17 year old sister is having trouble at school and has written an achingly tender song about her father's demise which she is trying to sing in a competition when the film opens, only to be called away by her mother who needs her to babysit so she can go to work. Her brother, apparently her twin, has dropped out of school altogether and taken a job as a handbill dispenser, wearing a mouse costume. The mother is depressed and crushed by the burden of providing for her family. The story shows convincingly how each of the five finds a way back to the family through a near fatal accident to the younger brother when one of his jumps goes awry. The mother, Orly Sibersatz Banai, and the two older children, Maya Maron and Natai Gaviratz, are utterly convincing. Nir Bergman made this film with a small grant from the Israeli government. He has certainly demonstrated that millions of dollars are not required to make a superior film. However, millions may be needed to hire well-known actors and to enter distribution channels that will bring in a sizable audience. Too bad because this film is far superior to most Hollywood fare and even to the smaller independent films that reach their audience through art houses. Find it -- if you can. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required. The subtitles are fine.

can't say enough good things about it

[YanivEidelstein · 10/10 · 27 October 2002]

"knafayim shvurot" (not "shvurut"!), the first dramatic feature from nir bergman, is a well made drama about a haifa family's attempts to deal with the death of the husband/father (from a bee sting!) and to try and get on with their lives.

the main focus is the relationship between mother orli zilbershatz-banai and teenage daughter maya meron, and these two fine actresses really shine. meron's beautiful, expressive eyes help her to create a hugely sympathetic central character. all the supporting actors, even the kids, put in really good performances.

even as the early parts of the film deal with characters' attempts to get on with their everyday lives, the director took great care to keep the film moving at a brisk pace. at any given moment, something interesting is happening on screen, so there isn't a dull moment.

on a personal note, it was fantastic to see haifa (my home town, and nir bergman's), which i always thought was very cinematic, as the backdrop for a story, and many city locations are used to great effect.

this movie is thoroughly enjoyable. it balances its dramatic and comedic elements with impressive skill. it's unpretentious yet sure of itself, and will have most viewers wiping a tear from their eye before the end.

i'd recommend "knafayim shvurot" to just about anyone.

A fist in the stomach

[fungiman-1 · 9/10 · 23 May 2005]

Director Nir Bergman creation is considered as one of the pinnacles of the Israeli cinema. The story is universal but also very intimate and local. Haifa, the working-class industrial and port city is the perfect background for the movie. an old Israeli song has the line "Haifa - A real city", and like the city in the background, the characters are all very real. Dafna (Silbersatz Banai) is a wary midwife-nurse, constantly escaping her unsolved grief of her recently deceased husband. The older children, Maya (Maron) and Yair (Gaviratz) try to find their own ways to cope with lose, like their mother, they rather run away than confront. The younger son, Ido (Magon), is acting calm on the surface, but his risk taking acts and social avoidance are showing the cracks in his psyche.

When the fragile family is facing a crisis, the characters must confront and solve their own grieving and accusations.

Maya try to escape to Tel-Aviv, the prototypical big city. Tel-Aviv is only 100km south of Haifa, but might as well be light-years away. She can escape to Tel-Aviv, but she takes the guilt and accusations with her, and in the big city, nobody cares.

Nir Bergman is delivering this bare-bone drama with a fist to the stomach. This is real life, No great love story, no special effects or action, with great supporting actors and soundtrack. It is an anthem for simple people, an anthem for the family and its strength. Rent this DVD and watch it with your loved one, you will not regret it.

10/10 for a local film 9/10 overall

One of the best films I've ever seen

[Butterfl · 10/10 · 3 March 2006]

In response to SleepyCannon of China (impressive in itself that the film made it that far!), I didn't mind Dafna falling into the arms of the doctor. Not only are neediness and dependency part of being human, but who could blame her for seeking a bit of comfort when she's reached her breaking point, whether it's from a man or otherwise? At that point, at the height of her crisis, just about anything she did would've been believable. And contrary to what another commentator wrote, she was not trying to get into his pants, Heaven forfend! Yet even if she had been, I would've excused her. Can a person in her situation be said to be thinking straight?

I'm surprised no one's mentioned the scene when Maya runs away to the recording studio in Tel Aviv, where as she's waiting to be seen, the receptionist is doing some remote mothering of her own, telling her lonely and scared child on the other end of the line to put in a video so s/he could fall asleep. This was a brilliant ironic touch, echoing and mirroring Maya's own family's situation.

I also liked that the father was not killed in a terror attack or in battle, giving the film its universality. Bergman, way to go. You make me proud to be Israeli.

Regardless of it's geographical setting, this is an involving and rather moving little drama

[bob the moo · 16 May 2004]

Maya is a teenager who has hopes of someday having a better life through her singing. However, on the night of her first gig she is called home to look after her young brother and sister while her mother goes to a night-shift at the hospital. This is the pattern of Maya's life since her father died about 9 months before – her mother Dafna never seems to be around, her elder brother seems to be on a downward spiral of depression while the youngest children seem adrift and distant.

Whenever I sit down to watch a film that comes from Israel, it is tempting to assume that the film will deal with or at least touch on the troubles there. That was the case with this film and I was pleasantly surprised that this was actually a drama about teenage relationships and difficulties. The plot focuses on Maya but draws in the other characters into a story that is rather low-key and small but manages to be involving and rather moving. It's not perfect of course and some viewers may find it's pace a little slow and the insular nature of the drama to be a little folded in on itself (especially if you expected the wider conflicts to be drawn into it in some way). As a teenage drama this is rather touching and is an enjoyable little drama that is based on a well written script.

The performances are also very good and there aren't really any weak links in this regard. Maron is well cast and her Maya is interesting and sympathetic. Banar has a more difficult role but does it well and keeps the audience with her. Gaviratz is good even if his character is the most difficult to get to know; the younger children are also good and rise above the usual cute performances that Hollywood seems to draw from kids on a regular basis. The film paints a small family drama on a little canvas and the good cast are a major part of producing a story that really engages.

Overall this is an enjoyable little family drama that is quite involving and quite touching. The characters are well written and well delivered by a roundly good cast. Short and bittersweet and well worth a watch if you can find it – everywhere in the world there are families and teenagers and everywhere in the world they have conflict.

A story not unique to Israel

[raymond-15 · 8/10 · 3 October 2005]

How fragile life can be! A single bee sting can devastate a family when it takes a much-loved father. Shattered in their bereavement, the family struggles on like a ship without a rudder. Each member has new duties to perform, more responsibilities to undertake. Mother Dafna strives to care for her four children and continue her work as a nurse at the hospital. She is sleepy-eyed through most of the film. Her eldest daughter Maya writes sad songs about her father and sings with a band, but has to fore-go this pleasure to look after the younger children. Her young brother Ido likes to make movies and films himself jumping into an empty concrete swimming pool. A rather silly thing to do as he hits his head on the solid concrete and ends up in hospital in a deep coma. When Maya forgets to collect her little sister from school, the child wanders home in the rain crossing the very busy streets. We expect another death in the family at any minute. Maya's brother Yair is going through one of those teenage stages philosophizing about us mortals being no more than a speck in the vast universe. On the whole the family is pretty normal and indeed likable. There are many such families around the world. Their dad is no longer with them to guide them and care for them.

The story unfolds smoothly, yet sadly, and with a slight touch of comedy at times with irritating moments that we all experience such as a car not starting up at a critical moment. Mother's frantic outburst in hospital screaming at her son to wake up from his coma pleads with the doctor to use his knowledge and give him something to rouse him. We understand her dilemma and the thought occurs to us that he may never wake up.

Mother is very tired from the strain of recent events and it seems that the doctor is also rather tired. They are also two lonely people who find comfort in each other's presence. Lying in each other's arms stretches the imagination beyond belief. Does this really go on in Israeli hospitals? Both mother and son strive in their own way to wake the young boy from his coma. the mother offering a mother's love and the son urging him to play his favourite sport. But will he ever wake? As this film shows, life is fragile. life is full of uncertainties. This is not a happy film, but it can and does inspire and many will see themselves in similar situations.

a touching story

[Longan · 10/10 · 22 November 2002]

We Israelis hated our local movie productions for many years. There weren't many movies made in such a small country and the ones who were made sucked badly. Most of the movies were either rock bottom humor comedies or unreliable dramas. "Knafayim Shvurot" is pretty unique. There's nothing "big" in this movie. The story is pretty basic but it's well written. The actors (some of them are in their teens or younger) are doing great job. This movie can touch you in the heart, I promise you that. No matter if you live in Paris, New York,Helsinki or any other place on planet earth. I don't know how many of you out there will get the chance to see it but I surely recommend it. The story is universal... In a few words it's about a family of 4 kids and a mom who lost its father. It's sad, funny , enjoyable and touching all at the same time. With some luck and good marketing this movie will be able to compete for the foreign film category in the academy awards. I'll cross my fingers for it.

Israel's "Sweet Sixteen"

[shmulik-cohen · 9/10 · 1 March 2003]

This Film is like Ken Louch's "Sweet Sixteen" but funnier sometimes. Highly recommended. It is full of Human Nature and painful bits. Life is a Bitch. In the Background there is Modern Israel with the many Problems. Especially the Rat Race. I want to see this film again.

Brothers, Sisters, Single Mom and Unforgotten Father = Family

[antidonnie · 8/10 · 27 October 2006]

*This May Contain Some Unharmful Spoilers*

Broken Wings is right on the line of those dark and depression movies that deal with emotional themed matters. I like those kinds of movies, and this is one of the better ones. I think the best part about it is I like putting myself into one of the characters situations. Then I ask myself "What would I do?" if I was dealing with what they're dealing with. Several ideas run through my mind at the same time, and all are hard thoughts to think about. I hope that's just my preferable taste in movies instead of me being a depressed negative person.

A 17-year-old girl named Maya Ulman (Maya Maron) has written a song titled "Cartoon Lyrics", and dedicated it to her father, whose death was unfortunate unspeakably. Maybe one of the biggest events of Maya's life was turned around because of her mothers, Dafne Ulman (Orly Silbersatz Banai), random night shift at the hospital. Maya is so emotionally unstable because she blames herself for her father's death. She was with him, and she could've saved him. She and her mother can't get along seeing is that they are both emotionally unstable. Her mother works at the hospital, and when you have four kids to look after, night shifts can be rough. Maya is given the chance to record, by a phone call of some big time music producer, but after the recent hospitalization of her younger brother, and problems with her guy friend, she declines.

Maya's twin brother Yair (Nitai Gvirtz) is a mouse. Really, it's his job go to around handing out applications in a creepy mouse costume. After the fathers death Yair has dropped out of school and has since then lead a fatalist life neglecting his siblings, his mother, and his ex- girlfriend Iris (Dana Ivgy). Iris departed for a while for reasons I forgot, she is inattentive toward Yair when she returns. He did not write to her in her absence. Both Yair and Iris condition at school is the same because neither can come on campus unless medically and therapeutically treated.

Maya's youngest brother Ido (Daniel Magon) has depressed issues with his mother, and takes it out one himself. Maya's younger sister Bahr (Eliana Magon) feels as if she is always neglected, and that scares her. Ido has a peculiar take for dangerous stunts, and for his very nice camcorder. His stunts lead him to his 'down fall.' Maya is late for her first day of school because Bahr won't go the preschool without her mom, Ido skips school because it was either that or be beaten up by some cowards his age.

Broken wings means, I can only safely assume, the once stable family that soar, are now broken. Broken, but not permanently, this movie tells us so. Two brothers, two sisters, and a single mom, and an unforgotten father are there to tell us a story about a broken wing. You realize that it takes lots and lots of duck tape to fix a broken wing.

This movie was hard to write about. One, because it can only be explained nicely if you watch the movie, and second this movie has so much in it for a ninety-minute film. So it is difficult trying to get my opinion down gracefully. Simple and clean, Broken Wings is a very well done foreign film.

***1/2/**** Stars

Broken Wings (2002): Rated R for some language, brief nudity and drug use

People and Crises

[sleepycannon · 9/10 · 6 May 2005]

whenever a movie touches the point of our present life, it make us think. and the movie is enjoyable. broken wings is such a movie. there is more people there is more trouble and crises, if, these people can not keep their relationship in a balance. lets imagine, if Dafna has only one child, the youngest one, her life will be easier, even the younger child need much care, but he will have less thoughts, and making less trouble to the mother. but the fact is that she has four. if her child is a teen, it reminds me of another movie called White Oleander, which both mother and daughter is strong, while Dafna is troubled by the lost of her husband and the heavy burden thrown on her shoulder suddenly which she felt hard to carry. her eldest daughter Maya reminds me of thousands of Chinese family eldest daughter, who always helps a lot in families and who is always considered to be the one that should help! yet Maya isn't Chinese. Dafna's case is easy to find anywhere i believe. the point is, she has to work. if she don't need to worry about money, it could be easier for her and her family? i doubt it. but another movie called Panic Room, which the mother don't need to worry about money and the daughter is clever and independent. where does their cries come from? from having too much money that they bought a big house? from there isn't a guy there to help them? well, again a question of a single family. imagine if, Dafna has no child, her husband's death will have only leave her a lonely and quiet life, just like what was described in that movie called Three Colours Blue, in which the woman Julie felt meaningless about her life for a while.... does it mean that woman without a husband, without a bf, without a family will make her life empty? but if she has all, it would turn out to be some trouble for her? if, she can not balance herself and the family ? i would say it is natural and common that Dafna got some help and comfort from that doctor. at least he listens and feels about her life. but, isn't it a kinda failure of this best movie? for a single woman, she must be strong and clever. she must foresee what will happen to her and her family. she must find solution in advance. otherwise crises can not be prevented from happening. in the end, i would say in all my DVD collection, the broken wings i category it to one of my best collections.

A Tear-Jerker

[zygote66 · 3 April 2004]

I don't know how Shira could say this was a "sweet" film.

Since TERMS of ENDEARMENT,(Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, John Lithgow), I have not cried so much. While it was a beautifully crafted film, the heavy-handed tension while awaiting each character's "trouble" was too much for me.

The scenery of Haifa and the school scenes were high points. I'm sure that if the extreme dysfunction was tempered, this would have been a terrific movie.

At any rate, I was glad that the Israelis are making films that reach our shores. I look forward to learning more about this young film-maker.