SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL | SFJFF 2010

The lone life of Yolanda Moskowitz, a widow and retired French teacher, consists of painfully climbing up and down multiple flights of stairs, watching French game shows on TV and, when she’s trying to sleep at night, silencing the fierce wailing of stray cats that crowd the backyard. When she injures herself and ends up in a geriatric ward, she shoos away hospital workers and fellow patients just like she did the cats. Here, however, Yolanda learns (or rather, relearns) how to co-exist with others. She befriends Alegra, with whom she shares her room, and Alegra’s caretaker Malka, who offers to stop by her apartment to pick up some of her belongings. She also begins to fall for a charming former soccer player, Shaul, who brings smiles to her face and colors into her world. Furthermore, it is in this ward that she is reminded of life’s fragility when she sees a dead person for the first time. Gurvich’s sweet, touching and award-winning film (Best Actress, Rita Zohar, 2009 Jerusalem International Film Festival) is a testament that our emotional lives continue to evolve, no matter what the age. “Don’t look at the age,” Yolanda knowingly tells her nurse, “look at the person.”—Nani Ratnawati

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