Prague Journal

Saturday, November 27, 2004.

This evening we went to see the Israeli movie “Broken Wings” at the Jewish Education and Culture Center across the street from the Jewish Town Hall. It’s a powerful movie about an Israeli family struggling to cope with the death of their father/husband. “Nine months after her husband died, Dafna Ullman (renowned stage actress Orli Zilberschatz-Banai) has just gone back to work as a night shift hospital midwife. 16-year old Yair (Nitai Gvirtz), has dropped out of school, abandoned a potential basketball career and now hides inside a mouse costume, distributing flyers on the subway. 11-year-old Ido (Daniel Magon), deals with his building aggression by trying to break the world free jump record (and practices into an empty swimming pool), while 6-year-old Bahr (Eliana Magon) begins a lonely first day of school. So it's left to 17-year-old Maya, (lovely newcomer Maya Maron), a gifted budding singer/song writer, to act as a surrogate mother to her youngest siblings. Everyone tries to navigate their daily lives as best as they can—jobs, romantic involvements, a car that won't start—but when Maya forgets to pick up little Bahr from school, it’s an incident which causes a major upheaval in their lives...” which has the potential of bringing them together, as they share the bonds of love in healing.
“Told with sincerity, drama, and self-deprecating humor, director Nir Bergman’s feature debut has a remarkable freshness and a keen sense of observation of the contemporary family. Shot entirely on location in Haifa and Tel Aviv, Broken Wings reveals an Israel very different from the televised news images and violent world politics, and also portrays a truly universal experience…. The winner of nine prizes at the Israeli Academy Awards and a hit in its home country, the award-winning Broken Wings is the extraordinarily moving story of the life and loves of the Ullman family, an ordinary Israeli family coping with everyday life.” http://mongrelmedia.com/films/BrokenWings.html
We, on the other hand, are coping with short days and rainy mornings as we engage ourselves in enjoyable activities and little meaningful work.
The movie ended early enough for us to stop at two bakeries on the way to dinner, so we loaded up on fresh strudel and bread. We had dinner at the Sokolovka restaurant near the Hradčanská bus stop again. This evening it was not so smoky as usual. The food is always good and, since the menu is only in Czech, more of a challenge than most other places. Czech restaurant behavior is noticeably different than what we’re used to in the U.S. It’s hard to get a waitress’s attention to get the bill, and almost as hard to prevent her from delivering another beer if your glass is empty. Plates are whisked away from the table as soon as it looks like you’ve finished eating, but you have to ask for dessert – no one will ask if you’d like something more to eat after you’ve ordered.

posted by JWinn @ 11:49 PM