ctowyi
There are not many films that will make me ponder about my mortality. Sitting in the old- school cinema of The Projector last night, I think only Departures (2008) made me do that. About what exactly? About whether my life journey up to that point has yielded dividends in terms of significant milestones and character building; about whether I have laid the path ahead of me; about whether I have enriched my own life so that I can enrich others who crossed my path; about my legacy. Departures changed my life. Since then no other films have come along to make me contemplate the deeper aspects of my mortality. That is until last night. The Farewell Party (2014) opened the Israeli Film Festival here and what a film it was. I found myself laughing so hard at the antics and ideas, but I think I got ahead of myself here. The story is about a group of old friends living in a retirement home for old folks. Life is hard when they see their friends slowly dying from debilitating diseases. So a tinkerer tinkers out a self-euthanising machine to put the choice of life or death in the hands of terminally ill patients. Soon the rumours of the machine spread and more people ask for their help. The group of friends are now faced with a life and death dilemma. I think this gem of a film is what it means to laugh in the face of death. From the get go scene of a woman getting a phone call from God, me and my friends and a near full-house audience were laughing till our sides hurt. This is not rude humour of the Hollywood kind but sensitive and compassionate. By tackling the difficult theme of euthanasia through comedy, it provides a way into a labyrinthine can of worms. It feels real and genuine, not made up to gain sympathies. The tone is deftly maintained from the first scene to the last with nary a misstep. Nothing is overcooked; everything timed perfectly. It is warm and comforting; like snuggling underneath a warm blanket with your significant other in cold weather. There is joy coupled with deep sadness. Get ready to laugh through streaming tears. The writing is marvellous and effortless in a sense that the two writer-directors must have written this from a deep place of hurts but yet it doesn't want to wring your emotions dry. It rises above the common denominator and glides from scene to scene like an angel on wings. It is thorough but never exhausting. It dares to ask hard questions but never forces its ideas down your throat. Get ready to debate after the movie because you will want to. The acting by the ensemble cast is amazing. Watch out for a scene in which they wear nothing just to cheer a friend up. The exquisite balancing act is sheer masterclass. Not many directors would be able this pull it off and I think you really need to be an amazing human being to be able to do this, and we got two here. Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon were there last night with an illuminating post-film discussion. Their talk was candid, heartfelt and they shared from a deep place. I had a chance to talk to them later about a scene in which the actors did a song number that felt like the only misstep for me and you know what... their explanation convinced me it wasn't. Love the film; love them.
Teyss
"The Farewell Party" starts as a tragi-comedy in a retirement pension where the question of euthanasia is first raised then addressed. As the movie progresses the tragic dimension becomes more and more apparent, as minds and bodies decay, requests for a dignified death grow and "survivors" are left sadder. This is no trifle matter: euthanasia raises serious debates in many countries, even where it is already partly legal. How do we treat our elderly? By the way, how long was it since we last saw a movie where all main characters are aged? If only for this, "The Farewell Party" stands out, but it delivers much more.*** WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS ***In terms of content, it deals with many themes: life, old age, illness, euthanasia, justice, death, dementia, friendship, love, homosexuality. All these are quite beautifully and efficiently addressed. For instance after the main character affected by dementia walks into the dining hall just with her night gown on, she is depressed by her mistake. Her friends then have her come over to the greenhouse… where they are naked, to cheer her up and show her that exhibiting one's body is not an issue. They drink and laugh together, naked in the night. What better demonstration of friendship could there be?In terms of form, the movie smartly, maybe too smartly, triggers contradictory emotions. Notably, we are constantly hesitating to cry or smile, especially when we expect it less. For instance an old lady is about to die secretly… then we hear a group of friends singing loudly outside her window, to the great surprise of the "euthanasists". At last they can proceed with their task… but their device crashes, blowing all lights out! They are obliged to leave the old lady grumbling, which is at the same time happy news (she is still alive) and tragic (she still wants to die).Another aspect of contrasting emotions is when we are expecting something… and something else happens, not completely different, but sort of on the side. When a policeman stops the main characters' car after they perform their first illegal euthanasia, we think "Oh no, this is really cliché, he is just stopping them for speeding"… but they manage to get out of this in a special way which is sad and somewhat comical at the same time (enough with spoilers). And when he stops them for a second time later on, we think "Oh no, not again"… but then the scene is quite different, more on the frightening side even though it ends well (too long to detail).In summary, the main strength of "The Farewell Party" is to succeed treating almost as a comedy some very serious and even tragic aspects of life. It also progresses very efficiently throughout all the stages of the characters' dilemmas and actions: the decisions, the preparation, the first time, the never-again, the but-we-have-to, the moral issues, the group conflicts, the suspense, etc. Most of the action occurs in the pension but at no time does it feel long or useless.Characters are attaching, complex and sometimes double-sided. An old man regularly calls an old lady to have her believe he is God so she feels better… but does she really believe this or does she pretend to, ironically in order to please the old man? One of the members of the "euthanasia squad" who apparently has high values is actually being paid for the "job". The main character who rejects euthanasia will in the end ask this for herself. Acting is absolutely outstanding; I know this is a standard comment about many movies, but here it truly is impressive how all actors manage to show their emotions and bodies, while at the same time remaining most decent.However, one of the main drawbacks of the movie is the luxury of the pension, which does not acknowledge that many elderly end their lives in poorer conditions. Granted, I don't know how pensions are in Israel where the action takes place, but the topics of the movie can be considered as universal and hence probably should have been depicted in a more realistic way. Maybe the directors wanted to avoid making a "social" movie in order to focus more on other themes, or wanted to limit dramatic elements?Despite this minor downside, "The Farewell Party" is outstanding by many aspects, some of which I briefly described above. Perhaps the most poignant parts are the videos recorded by the elderly on their deathbed. In this regard, the last scene is certainly the saddest of the movie and probably one of the saddest of film history: what do we get from life, what does our existence boil down to, what are we left with in the end just before departing from this world? At best, a small kiss from the person we love.
avital-gc-1
I laughed, I cried, I loved this film. Old people in a retirement home face illness and dementia every day. When the wife of a very sick friend tells the patent inventor Yehezkel that her husband is desperate to die and end the pain, Yehezkel builds an appropriate machine. The emotional and the moral aspects of helping with self-euthanasia come up. It's always subtle, or really painful, or funny-and the narrative is never longer than it should. There's even a scene with a song-and it is subversive and moving-brings Almodovar to mind. Great acting of everyone. There are some glitches in the Portuguese subtitles, but maybe not in English-and either way, it's not that bad.
arielyz
This movie has brought be to tears - which is extremely unusual for me.Going through a similar process with my late father, I can say that the movie is very accurate.Such an amazing mixture of laughter and tears. So real, and so different from the run-of-the- mill, dime-a-dozen, Hollywood films. The kind of movie that provides you with real food for thought and a long lasting impression. I was greatly impressed by the very high quality of acting, direction, editing and cinematography, which is rare in the Israeli films landscape. I would most definitely rate is the best movie I've seen the past year.
