Walk on Water

Go and see Walk of Water, but make sure you cover your eyes for the last three minutes before the credits roll around. Nothing grusome, graphic or erotic in that last hurrah, but instead the most ridiculous, unnecessary plot twist since she was a he in The Crying Game.

Walk on Water is a challenging, exciting film from Israeli Eytan Fox. The plot weaves together three complicated characters: a German brother and sister who's grandfather was a Nazi, and the Israeli Mossad agent who acts as their tour guide on a trip to the Holy Land. It's an intriguing tale of who knows what, and who knows who knows what, and the story is told with gripping, pacey drama.

What sets this film apart from so many others in the spy genre is that the characters are all fundamentally flawed, and extremely human. There are no good guys or bad guys, just many characters in a variety of shades of grey. That's how it should be. Just as in the real world, most believe in the rightness of their actions, regardless of the consequences. It's hard not to empathise with the plight of each of the characters, even when it places them in conflict with each other.

There are few holocaust themed films which have big dollops of humour, with Europa Europa and Life is Beautiful being the honourable exceptions. Whilst not strictly a holocaust film, this one manages to keep the laughs coming without undermining its message.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Still yet to see it Ari, but probably this weekend. No doubt we'll run into each other multiple times a day over the next week, so we can compare notes then.

jane
14 May 2005 at 08:33
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