Meduzot (2007)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Directors:

Shira Geffen
Etgar Keret

Writer:

Shira Geffen (writer)

Release Date:

28 June 2007 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Love. Longing. Magic. (USA)

Plot:

Meduzot (the Hebrew word for Jellyfish) tells the story of three very different Israeli women living...

Plot Keywords:

Honeymoon | Beach | Jellyfish | Wedding Party | Hospital

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Sarah Adler	...	Batia
Nikol Leidman	...	Girl
Gera Sandler	...	Michael
Noa Knoller	...	Keren
Ma-nenita De Latorre	...	Joy
Zaharira Harifai	...	Malka
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tsipor Aizen	...	Tamar
Bruria Albeck	...	Relly
Ilanit Ben-Yaakov	...	Galia
Binos	...	Fille
Assi Dayan	...	Eldad
Miri Fabian	...	Nili
Natasha Geffen	...	La petite fille
Shira Geffen	...	Receptionniste
Shosha Goren	...	Tikva
Tzahi Grad	...	Police Man
Johnathan Gurfinkel	...	Amir
Amir Harel	...	Doctor
Tami Harel	...	Nurse
Yitzhak Hizkiya	...	Eytan
Lev Kerel
Dror Keren	...	Taxi-Driver
Efraim Keret	...	Ice seller
Etgar Keret	...	Manager
Arik Kneler
Menachem Lang	...	Rabbin
Gidéon Levi	...	Docteur 2
Tal Lifshitz	...	La mère
Efrat Mishori	...	Hamlet
Naama Nisim	...	Neomi
Rina Padwa
Odid Perah	...	D J
Leila Pourcel
Shalom Shmuelov	...	Menachem
Amos Shoov	...	Eyal
Zohar Shtrauss	...	Le père
Yali Sobol	...	Amir
Liron Vaisman	...	Shiri

Also Known As:

Jellyfish (International: English title) (literal title)
Les méduses (France)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

France | Israel

Language:

Hebrew | English | Tagalog | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:13 | Germany:6 | South Korea:12 | USA:Unrated | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Tel Aviv, Israel

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

During a screening of the film in Albany, New York, in 2009, co-director Etgar Keret stated that the title of the film is a reference to the fact that jellyfish drift in the sea and do not have much control over their fate or direction.

They drift and they sting

Meduzot (2007) is an Israeli film written and co-directed by Shira Geffen. (The other co- director is Etgar Keret.) The film was shown in the U.S. with the title "Jellyfish."

Sarah Adler plays Batia, a fine person, but possibly the world's worst waitress. One day, at the seashore, a young girl drifts to shore, buoyed by a small plastic doughnut-shaped tube, and walks up to Batia. This little girl, played by Nikol Leidman, never speaks. We know she exists, because at one point she and Batia are in a police station, and the detective sees her too. However, that's all we know about her. Ms. Leidman is either completely guileless, or she's the best actor in the film. Her solemn, wide-eyed gaze is riveting.

Several other characters interact in the film--a Filipino nurse who has been forced to emigrate without her young son, a brother and sister and their sick mother, and a newly wedded bride who has broken her leg on her wedding day.

I enjoyed the movie because it was about ordinary people living ordinary lives--no soldiers, no explosions, no violent confrontations. The acting was uniformly excellent, and I was caught up in the film from beginning to end. It's worth seeing and worth seeking out. It will probably work well on DVD--most of the action is intimate and doesn't require a large screen. This film was shown at the excellent Rochester High Falls International Film Festival.