bonjour monsieur shlomi

after talking about it since reading the review in the life! section last week, i finally caught this film with daniel tham tuesday night - after a whole day of editing for my magazine in school, which is another story for another time.

originally titled ha'kohavim shel shlomi, this film was nominated for 12 israeli academy awards in 2004. a charming hebrew tale of the coming of age of its teenage boy protagonist, we are brought on a journey as he discovers that the only way ahead for him is to stop living the lives for other people, and start leading his own.

directed by shemi zarhin and produced by eitan evan, this is a hebew film not what vincent thought was "about jesus" but about 16-year old shlomi taking care of everyone in his family.

he feeds his grandfather, bathes him and listens to his ficititious stories from world war 2. he reminds his older brother to take his medication on time for his kidney ailment and intently listens to his pornographic thoughts. he calms his quick-tempered mother and mediates between her and his hypochondriac father who was thrown out of the house after cheating on her - it's "not his fault," he says, "but the fault of his penis, who seems to have a life of his own."

shlomi also looks after his older sister's twins each time she quarrels with her husband and comes back home. shlomi also makes sures she goes back to her husband who can't tell between the identical twin babies. and most of all, shlomi makes sure to make everybody happy by cooking their favourite dishes. shlomi knows - that they'll eat and then calm down. because his home is a battlefield and shlomi runs around between everyone, making peace.

but nobody in his family really sees shlomi. even shlomi doesn't see shlomi.

until one day, a routine maths test arouses the suspicious of shlomi's math teacher and school principal. after meeting and talking to him, they realize that a very unique personality is hiding behind this neglected and dormant boy. with their help and the help of rona, the gardener with whom he falls head over heels in love, shlomi finds himself.

bonjour monsieur shlomi is a heartening family comedy, a surprising love story which focuses on the captivating character of one boy blessed with extraordinary cooking talents, who discovers through the power of love that the sky is truly the limit.

i found myself unable to let myself laugh completely as the movie progressed because behind those comedic episodes, there is an underlying cynical message that seems to be conveyed. that maybe if you were in shlomi's shoes, it would not be so funny anymore.

there are other isolated elements that intrigued me further - like how parents are portrayed negatively in the film with parents being totally absent from rona's life and even when they are around in shlomi's case, they are dysfunctional parents. and how incongruent how a teen who reads only the Bible gets involved sexually so readily. and so, is this film as independent as it is made out to be? or just a mutation of the hollywood formula?

but overall, if you are of age - it's NC16, if you are not like vincent who only watches "indie films" only if there are "japanese/korean chicks," if you want a change from the usual hollywood nonsense you get or if you simply just want to watch a film that is different, bonjour monsieur shlomi is a film for you. it's screening at cineleisure orchard for about a week more from this thursday. catch this gem before it's gone.