Yossi

By: Judicious Reviewer

I'm a big fan of director Eytan Fox, but he sure misses with this one. Yossi and Jagger was a fine film. Nuanced, with good character development and reasoned plot motivation. But here, the characters are one-dimensional, and the motivation puzzling. What prompts Tom's attraction to Yossi? It's a mystery to me because, even on its own terms, there is hardly anything in the film to explain this. If a younger man is drawn to an older, there is always an explanation: money, personality, success, and sometimes even looks. But here, it is unintelligible. Yossi has genuinely nothing in his favor. Depressed (and depressing), overweight, un-sexual, withdrawn, unfriendly. Why anyone would fall for him is a mystery. Even the supporting characters are thinly drawn. The only exceptions are the attractive bar-owner that Yossi tricks with and, in a small role, the star of Fox's Walk on Water--now THAT is a film you should absolutely not fail to miss. But you can skip this.

By: Amos Lassen

When Israeli director, Eytan Fuchs, brought us "Yossi and Jagger", he gave us an instant classic and actually put Israel on the gay film map. Since that film he has brought us others-"Walk on Water, "The Bubble", "Mary Lou" and each film shows us how far Israel has come in terms of homosexuality-so different from when I lived there. Now he brings us the film we have been waiting for-the sequel to "Yossi and Jagger" and I am sure it will rank right up there with the others he has directed.

We meet Yossi (Ohad Knoller) now after his army stint and he is a doctor who works all of the time. He is alone living a solitary gay life but then he meets someone from his past that changes everything. As he traveled to the south of Israel, he came upon a group of young army officers and among them was Tom. It has been ten years since Yossi lost Jagger and he has retreated into a mundane and banal existence as he studied and achieved his goal of becoming a cardiologist. Once in a while he has a visit from Yariv (Gil Desiano), a super stud and occasional one night stand but Yossi seems to have lost the joy of living. He does not become involved with anyone and actually rejects many and laments the love he lost. He uses his career to hide his feelings and wallows in his own self pity. When he meets Tom (Or Zehavi) he sees almost a mirror image of Jagger. Tom takes on the struggle of bring Yossi back to life.

There is something else very important here as well and that is the commentary on gays in the Israeli army. When I served I felt no homophobia and my soldier buddies were just that-buddies. The Israel Defense has not excluded gays from combat duty and this is a testament to the army. We see Tom as an openly out soldier and his army pals are fine with that. We see in Tom that which is lacking in Yossi-the joy of life.

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Yossi has stayed in the closet since he lost Jagger and he does not discuss being gay with anyone. When he meets Jagger's mother at the hospital, he decides to go to see her at home and tell Jagger's parents who he really is.
Then he realizes that the time has come for a vacation and he goes on a road trip alone and this is where he meets Tomtit is evident that Tom is interested in Yossi and will not leave him alone. Tom makes him come out of his closed world and he helps Yossi to deal with his problems and is able to make him feel comfortable with himself.

As viewers, we can feel what is going on in Yossi's world-his suffering and thinking about Jagger. He lives in denial of the gay world around him and we see his sadness and his humanity. He deals with the agony of meeting Jagger's parents but then we see the change. In the ten years that have passed, much has changed in Israel for the gay population and it is now okay for gay men to be just that. The acting is excellent all around and I can easily say that this is the best of Fox's films.

When "Yossi and Jagger" ended, the complicated nuances of their homosexuality in the macho military concealed, and for Yossi, completely unresolved. Here Yossi is to confront his past and the scene in which this happens is gorgeous and heartbreaking to watch. The melancholia that surrounds Yossi is painful to him and to us. He is a doctor who helps people yet he cannot help himself. He had lost touch with the real world and he cannot feel it, see it, or trust it.

This is one of those movies that pulls you in and makes you feel part of it and this is due not only by the story but by the excellent performances of the cast. Ohad Knoller portrays Yossi with such emotion that even a small facial movement gives insight into the character and he is compelling to watch. Zehavi is the perfect ying to Knoller's yang and the sexual tension between the two is both amusing and convincing.