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Reviews
Torn Apart (1990)
Movie totally unrealistic
Sorry to go against the grain, but Torn Apart is nothing more than a poorly done melodramatic soap opera that takes place in Israel. The main character does things as an Israeli soldier, that no soldier would do...anywhere.
The script totally neglects the real life of a soldier as it has him go from the west bank to an apparent vacation to Gaza all within a short time. In the scene where he is guarding in Gaza and the boy is drowning, there are many adult arabs all on the beach watching and wailing...but not one of them tries to save the boy!? Our hero Ben, doesn't call any of his fellow soldiers to go with him. He goes to the beach and leaves his weapon on the beach! To any soldier watching, this is just totally ridiculous.
But in the world of the overly melodramatic this is a plot point that allows for more drama as the soldiers search for the stolen weapon. And of course, our hero Ben grabs another weapon and kills the boy who is shooting with his stolen weapon.
The riot scenes are equally ridiculous. The whole movie is filled with this kind of disregard for fact. The only thing the writer and director did is miss the truth on the arab side as much on the Israeli side.
These are not characters...they are caricatures. I only saw this movie once, but in one viewing I caught so many mistakes it is embarrassing. One example: why does his beret change color from the burial scene to the next scene? Answer: the filmmakers did not pay much attention.
Waiting for much better, Mike
Ha-Mangalistim (2003)
Very Good Israeli Movie
I would highly recommend this movie. The story involves one family celebrating a holiday with a bbq. The plot weaves the story of the father, mother, son, and daughter, each happening at the same time, but from a different perspective. This is a finely crafted script and well done film.
My main reason for writing this review is to say how incredible the father was in the movie. After watching the DVD and seeing the behind the scenes section, they mentioned that he was not a professional actor. I don't know his name, but in my opinion, he stole the movie. the father's section is perhaps the most believable.
The only criticism I would have for the film-makers is that some background information is missing, essential to the film. I had a lot of questions of the characters, mainly: "Why are you doing this?" Other than that a very good film. The main message is that you never really know what someone is going through at any time.