I’ve become a fan of Israeli cinema purely by their track record. Most of the films I have seen out of Israel have been great: Walk on Water, Rabies, Big Bad Wolves, Fill the Void. I’m sure their industry has duds too but if an Israeli film makes it over here, I’m inclined to watch it. Tikkun only continues my love of Israeli cinema.
Tikkun is an art film with lots of ambiguities and surreal dream imagery. It will be a challenge to some, even in the art house crowd. There are some upsetting things in it, but it’s great. I can definitely check “weird art film” off my Telluride list.
Haim-Aaron (Aharon Traitel) almost dies in a freak shower accident. After surviving, he becomes restless and starts exploring his sexual desires. He was already going in this direction before the accident. He had impure thoughts in the shower and we saw him fingering raw meat provocatively, but now he’s leaving his yeshiva and visiting a brothel. I was impressed to see that even the brothel had a mezuzah on every door.
Meanwhile his father (Khalifa Natour) has nightmares and visions of stabbing his son in the back and alligators coming out of the toilet to condemn him. Plumbing problems are obviously a recurring theme for this family.
Shot in black and white, most of Tikkun is static shots with little or no dialogue, the sound of silence enhanced in the mix. It really shows how dynamic action performed in front of a still frame can be. The behavior of Haim-Aaron, at prayer school and in his extracurricular journeys, is compelling, as is that of his father as a kosher butcher.
Where Tikkun goes could ultimately offend people on a Gaspar Noé level. It is graphic, but more delicate about its in-your-face moments than Noé’s films. Let’s just say that fingering the meat was only the beginning. Is Haim-Aaron on a vision quest? Is it purgatory? Is it condemning Haim-Aaron or condemning the judgments laid upon him? It’s art, man, but it’s good art.
Image via Plan B Productions
Fred Topel is a veteran journalist since 1999 and has written for CraveOnline since 2006. See Fred on the ground at Sundance, SXSW, Telluride or in Los Angeles and follow him on Twitter @FredTopel, Instagram @Ftopel.
