Is a wedding the happy ending of a love story, or just the beginning? And is it even possible to get really ready to the moment? These are some of the questions risen by Israeli female director Talya Lavie in her sophomore work “Honeymood” which follows the 2004 debut, the record-breaking box office hit “Zero Motivation”, a film following two utterly demotivated young women in the Israely Army, assigned to a remote military outpost. The work earned Lavie the top prize at Tribeca in 2014, as well as the Nora Ephron Prize and six Israeli Academy Awards. Of course, it also set the bar very high for her following effort.
“Honeymood” is screening at the BFI London Film Festival
The Wedding reception has just finished and newlywed Eleanor (Avigail Harari) and Noam (Ran Danker) open the doors of the Grand suite in the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, ready to spend there their first night as a married couple. Cavorting in an effort to perform the classic “groom-carrying-bride-over-threshold” entrance, Eleanor finds a suspicious letter in Noam's back pockets; it's from his ex-girlfriend Ronana (Yael Folman) and contains the traditional check-present and a compass ring. Predictably, the ring sparks a discussion that snowballs into a drama until the couple – accompanied by a robot vacuum cleaner – set on out a journey into the night to find Ronana and give her back the incriminated ring.
Eleanor is adamant she has seen Ronana at the wedding, flirting with her ex-boyfriend Michael (Elisha Banai), a film student who is eternally editing his political short film and who consequently is dragged into the crazy altercation when bride and groom appear in the editing room looking for Ronana. But Michael & Ronana are not the only unresolved chapters to pop up over the course of this messy night; family ties, work issues, the Prime Minister's charming bodyguards, a suicidal nurse and many other darkly comic gags will unfold until morning finally breaks.
Honeymoons, wedding receptions, wedding disasters, fake weddings, arranged weddings – you name them – are daily bread for comedies, easily triggering a laugh while unveiling human weaknesses in the face of THE big commitment, the social ritual that is pregnant (excuse the pun) with expectations and promises. However, Talya Lavie writes and directs an odyssey that delivers the guaranteed laughter, but also manages to stray from being too literal and commonplace, despite involving quite a number of nuptial stereotypes. She does it smoothly, turning the whole nocturnal adventure into an allegoric journey through the unfinished business of the two protagonists. Their exes are still big lingering elephants in the room because – consciously or unconsciously – they haven't closed completely with them, leaving an emergency escape available.
Moreover, being an Israeli comedy, the family is a big source of inspiration, and of course it's always the beloved male son to be trapped into a parental net of overprotection, guilt, force-fed-leftovers and control over his life choices. In fact, Noam's mum and dad provide some of the funniest situations of the whole movie, also very reminiscent of another Israeli classic dark comedy, Dover Koshashvili's “Late Marriage”.
On the other side, Eleanor must deal on her own with another series of allegories; an age reality check – courtesy of her pesky pupils – an impromptu spot of dance while flirting with armed men, a patronising concierge with a bizarre view on history and a ride hanging outside a garbage truck. Fil rouge of the whole story is that small compass encased on the ring, lost and unable to give any sense of direction to the couple.
The cast is excellent; every character is spot-on-funny and genuine. Noam's parents, the exes, all the supporting roles have charm and depth at the same time. Cinematographer Yaron Scharf homages a nocturnal Jerusalem making it fluctuate from fairy-tail-ish to gritty urban; the ideal background of this surreal adventure. Editor Arik Lahav Leibovich's work is also remarkable in a way the final product feels seamless despite a very scatty and episodic narration.
“Honeymood” is a charming crowd-pleaser, a work that succeeds in entertaining but also in refreshing a trite subject matter with a whole new allegoric makeover.
