Thirteen-year-old Yoni (Yoav Rotman) is about to have his Bar Mitzvah. Puberty has forgotten about him and he remains scrawny with an unbroken voice while his schoolmates tower over him. He does homework for them for a fee which he uses to buy a body-building mass gainer. Yoni’s parents do little for him; his father (Tzahi Grad) is a crop-duster pilot who was grounded for smoking pot and his mother (Ronit Elkabetz), who runs a kindergarten, is having an affair with a student’s father. Things are complicated further when Yoni’s mentally handicapped older brother, Tomer (Michael Moshonov), is sent home when his institution closes down. Initially a burden, Tomer begins to have a positive influence on his family.
If you’ve seen Rain Man, then you probably know where this is heading. Instead of Dustin Hoffman helping Tom Cruise change the way he sees the world on a road trip home, it’s Yoav Rotman who’s softened by Michael Moshonov and made to see that life doesn’t have to be so hard, as they collect animal specimens and play make-believe. Sentimental and admittedly touching at times, the film sadly doesn’t really take flight and affect you the way you might hope. It’s evidently a very personal project for director Guy Nattiv, and performances are commendable all-round, but Mabul comes across as being little more than a conventional family drama; the Israeli setting being the only difference from something you’ve seen before. Indeed, that setting turns out to be the film’s most valuable quality.
Painting a richer potrait of Israel than what we commonly see, the film does challenge our preconceptions. Those more familiar with biblical stories will also be taken in by the film’s references to the tale of Noah and the Great Flood, which plays an important role in Yoni’s Bar Mitzvah. The flood in the title is itself only a metaphor. Mabul might tread lightly and not leave too much of a lingering impression, but it is a picturesque introduction to Israeli cinema.
Screens on Sep 7 and 11 at 7pm as part of the 19th Israeli Film Festival.