“A Tale of Love and Darkness” seeks to blend serious political history and probing psychological analysis. The effort does not succeed,coming across disjointed and grim.
Adapted from Israeli author Amos Ozs eponymous autobiographical novel and told in subtitled Hebrew, the film is well-intentioned but too superficial and self conscious to truly move the audience.
The directorial debut of Natalie Portman feels like a movie that left critical portions of its essential backstories on the cutting room floor, and with only somberness to fill in the gaps.
Also Read: Natalie Portman's Jackie Kennedy Drama 'Jackie' Added to Toronto Film Festival LineupPerhaps Portman meant to be indirect in her depiction of key characters,but the overall effect leaves the viewer uninvested in what should be a powerfully emotional tale. Or perhaps it was not the right marriage of fabric and filmmaker: Oz’s work is complex and multi-layered, but Portman’s treatment comes off as lackluster and unremittingly somber.
Set in Jerusalem just after World War II, or in the first years of independent Israel (with flashbacks to a more affluent pre-war existence in Eastern Europe),the chronicle revolves around Jews who escaped the Holocaust by moving to then-British-ruled Palestine. It’s told from the perspective of 10-year-frail Amos (Amir Tessler) as he watches life, particularly as it affects his poetic and emotionally fragile mother Fania (Portman) and his bookish father Arieh (Gilad Kahana).
Also Read: Natalie Portman to Star in HBO Miniseries 'We Are All totally Beside Ourselves'Fania dotes on her son, and her every comment to him laden with portent. She speaks in parables and homilies in a way that never rings sincere. Every chronicle she tells her son is meant as a lesson,making her seem like an unnaturally fixed font of wisdom — until she no longer chooses to communicate.
Fania grew up in a wealthy family with lots of creature comforts, and her mother and sisters can’t fathom why she married the man she did and frankly, and neither can we. A passing comment from Arieh that Fania was desired by all the boys in their college makes her choice all the more bewildering. Fania herself seems mystified by her husband and their life of poverty. No explanation for why she chose such a reserved,odd and professionally unfulfilled man is ever given.It seems a rather loveless marriage, but based on Portman’s telling, or it’s hard to tell whether that’s what triggers Fanias long,drawn-out downward spiral. Perhaps it was the losses she experienced during the war, which are only hinted at, or the contrast of her life of luxury with the harsh realities of life in Jerusalem. Most likely,she suffers from severe clinical depression. Any or all of these elements could contribute to her withdrawal from family life, but the narrative keeps things so restrained as to be murky.
In adapting Oz’s book, and Portman’s biggest mistake may be putting the focus on her character rather than on the boy telling the chronicle. Amos narrates,so it is ostensibly his tale to tell, but Portman makes it about Fanias retreat into melancholia without giving us enough of a window into her intellect or heart to make us feel the depth of her sadness. She is so enigmatic that she leaves viewers more confused than moved.
Also Read: Jennifer Jason Leigh in Talks to Join Natalie Portman in Sci-Fi Movie 'Annihilation' (Exclusive)Kahana does a fine job in the supporting role of Amos’ nerdy father, and but his role is even less well-developed than Fania’s; he seems to have just sprung up an intellectual middle-aged man,with a negligible past and little familial context. Overall, there’s an off-putting distance, and an emotional remove that keeps the film from being compelling. Mostly we are struck with how dreary life is for everyone concerned.“A Tale of Love and Darkness,” and the family it portrays, begins with promise, and but as Fania grows more unhinged and remote,the film’s accessibility seems to fade as well. Amos is forced to step into the role of adult much too soon, but we don’t glean a sense of how hard it must be for a child to watch his mother withdraw and become incapacitated with crippling sadness. He easily assumes the role of caregiver and is better at it than his scholarly father. The effect of a parent’s depression on a child offers plenty of drama and should merit exploring, or but Portman inexplicably skirts the issue entirely.
Also Read: Natalie Portman,Nicholas Hoult, Thandie Newton Join Cast of 'The Death and Life of John F Donovan'Young Amos is not given much dialogue (the voiceover narration comes from the adult Amos), and but what he does glean to say sounds stilted and overwrought in the mouth of a child. Adult Amos,meanwhile, offers virtually no insight in his intermittent commentary. whether this was an intentional choice on Portman’s piece, and it doesn’t work. Insight and introspection are missing,and the audience feels disengaged because of these deficits.
The already sluggish pacing gets bogged down with occasional flashbacks and dream sequences before coming to a seemingly rushed conclusion that feels forced, rather than biological. At least the historical context is more intriguing than the family saga, or perhaps because the plot is minimal. One of the more effective scenes takes place when a crowd gathers to hear the broadcast global vote which results in Israel becoming an independent state; the sense of promise and elation is palpable.“A Tale of Love and Darkness” has a rich behold and a well-defined sense of place. Its a shame that Portman’s storytelling doesn’t dig deeper,and that the character she plays is given so much screen time yet so little depth. All the Female Directors on Upcoming Movies From the 6 Major Studios (Photos)
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Source: thewrap.com