Nina's Tragedies
Nina's Tragedies
| 15 May 2004 (USA)
Nina's Tragedies Trailers

The taboo relationship between young Nadav and his Aunt Nina transcends definition on its way to odd highs and lows.

Reviews
Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?
Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Desertman84 Nina's Tragedies is an Israeli tragicomedy that features Ayelet Zurer, Yoram Hattab, Alon Abutbul, Shmil Ben Ari, and Anat Waxman.This is a strikingly original and bittersweet film about the coming-of-age of a young boy.It was written and directed by Savi Gabizon.Sensitive 14 year-old Nadav is experiencing an intensely emotional time in his life. He has been asked by his wild, recently divorced mother Alona to move in with his Aunt Nina to help comfort her following the death of her husband in a terrorist attack. Nadav is happy to comply since he has a hopeless crush on his stunning aunt. Through his eyes, we share Nina's pain over the death of her husband, her joy at the kindling of a new romance, and her discovery that finding true happiness is never as easy as it seems.Modern Israeli life is put into the big screen in this well-acted and well written film.Unfortunately,it has a contrived plot and dry humor that the viewer may have a hard time connecting with the film.Also,it was too bad that Ayelet Zurer gives Nina grace,sexiness and a real personality in this sort of unpolished film feature.
Mike Isaacson This is a truly great film, perhaps the first Israeli film to enter that category. It is, at once, funny and sad, raucous and sensitive. It beautifully encapsulates the bizarre realities of life in modern Israel, and vividly captures the many moods and faces of Tel-Aviv. Woody Allen would have been proud, even in his heyday, to have produced such a humorous and moving piece. And the acting is just terrific.I am quite frankly amazed that 3 people found Gadi I's comments ("A nice movie! nothing more") helpful. I cannot comprehend why he finds the Nadav character to be "negative" for "peeking at his aunt" - Anat Zorer is drop-dead gorgeous, and if I had had an aunt who looked like that when I was a post-pubescent teenager, I wouldn't have been able to STOP "peeking" at her! To say that the movie is "just not that good" beggars belief.Whether you are Israeli or not - and even if you have never been to Israel - if you haven't seen this movie, what are you waiting for?!
noralee "Nina's Tragedies (Ha-Asonot Shel Nina)" is a charming mix of genres.It's a coming of age story of a young teen boy (played very age appropriately with wide-eyed naiveté by Aviv Elkabeth) who acutely observes his dysfunctional family and their friends without really comprehending their adult emotions.It's also a sophisticated urban comedy about artists and intellectuals that we are more used to seeing in movies set in Paris or New York, including a fashion designer, a book editor, photographer, sculptor and nudist performance artist.The casual fillips that make us know they live in Tel Aviv add unique ramifications, as one character is killed while serving in the Army reserves (which for non-Israelis gives the film a post-9/11 overlay) and another gets caught up in ecstatic Orthodox Judaism.It also capitalizes on unusual twist of fate relationships, as portrayed in such movies as "Next Stop Wonderland" where we think we are watching magic realism but it turns out to be grounded in coincidence.The boy's desperate crush on his beautiful aunt is the mechanism to link the stories, as his voyeurism becomes a metaphor for the viewer and for artists in general, almost a bit too preciously as the boy is, as in most every such film, a budding writer.The film combines cheerfully earthy and frank sexuality with intense romantic longing, so it is a much more ironic view of grief than the Israeli film "Broken Wings (Knafayim Shvurot)" that was released in the U.S. last year. There's a long kiss that matches TV's most sensual kiss of the season in "Lost" with beautiful cinematography of temporary fulfillment. The primarily night-time cinematography is lovely.The acting is wonderful, particularly Ayelet Zurer as the strikingly lovely aunt who has intense chemistry in contrast with the solidity of craggy-faced Alon Abutbul. Anat Waxman makes the quirky mother a real person, not a silly joke. The concluding coda seems too much wishful thinking, even if it is emotionally satisfying.The credits are not translated into English and many of the subtitles are white on white.
gadi_i I saw this movie yesterday and i thought it was OK ,but i don't understand what's all the fuss about. The movie tells about the happenings of Nadav, a 13 years old boy, that falls in love with his beautiful aunt, Nina. The movie tells the story through Nadav's eyes from the moment his aunt got married to Haimon, till the moment his father dies of cancer. The movie has some sad and funny moments, and i enjoyed watching it. Most of the actors perform very well, especially Dov Navon, in the role of Menashe that always makes me laugh, even though the character was negative. Anat Waxman and Ayelet Zorer also performed pretty well. In my opinion, the movie's number one problem is that the main character, Nadav, and the actor that plays him, Aviv Elkabetz. First of all, the character is pretty negative: he is peeking at his aunt and some other women together with Menashe, and tends to argue with the people he love and confiscate them(Nina and his Dad). Second of all, the actor wasn't very persuasive and had annoying face. Because of his behavior, i had a problem identifying with the main character and that is what bothered me mostly in the movie(i think i even identified with "The Godfather"'s Michael Corleone more than i identified with him), but i can't blame it all on him. I guess the movie was just not that good. Many parts of it were slow, and it just didn't have such an interesting plot after all (but it is worth seeing). I still don't understand how it got such good reviews and so many Israeli Oscars.i gave it 7/10.