Summer Story

Today i attended a showing of Summer Story at a local Israeli film festival. I went into the theatre not thinking much of it...If anything else this would be a good exercise of my Hebrew vocabulary. I was so wrong. The film was made all the more poignant because the film is set in the early 80's in the heat of the first war with Lebanon (also called the Sinai war). Summer Story is a charming tale of a young boy named Gal (Kosta Kaplan) who is the mail boy in a small village in Israel. On his daily routes he befriends Chaya (Aya Stienovitz)a 19 year old girl with a heart condition who corresponds with soldiers who have been sent to battle. The relationship between Chaya and Gal is charming and fascinating to watch unfold. It is a quiet film with simple dialog, so if you are at a showing without subtitles i think you would be able to get by with a few years of Hebrew. Shmuel Haimocich's directing is wonderful-not too heavy handed or too subtle. If you are in the mood for a charming coming-of-age story, and are willing to shed a few tears, Summer Story is a film for you.