Little Simico's Great Fantasy

The movie begins by introducing Simiko, a ratty-looking little fellow with an angelic fiancée. He is obsessed with the idea of making a movie. Unfortunately, although Tzion Baruch played the part well enough to earn an award nomination-- looking woebegone or manic as the vicissitudes come and go-- we never see any reason that Simiko would land an angelic fiancée or be so eager to make a movie. He doesn't even care much what his movie is about, and doesn't seem to be about anything much, so we in the audience can't identify very strongly. The contrast that springs to mind is Michel Drach's LES VIOLONS DU BAL, in which the audience can understand what lies behind the semifictional filmmaker's obsession because his topic is strong and personal.

While Simiko is defined by nothing but his single-minded desire to make a movie, the character of Jacky, his reluctant financier, is an exercise in stereotype-bending by Uri Gavriel the quintessential Israeli movie tough guy, and he too came away with an award nomination. It's a pity only that the story doesn't carry enough meaning to grab the audience.