Yossi
3 out of 5 Stars
Director • Eytan Fox
Starring • Ohad Knoller, Shlomo Sadan and Oz Zehavi
Rated • Not Rated
Recommended to • Fans of Israeli cinema or dramas that explore loneliness and the need for love.

Dr. Yossi Hoffman is still haunted by his love for Jagger, a fellow soldier who died ten years previously. When he meets a group of soldiers while on vacation he finds himself drawn towards Tom, a young soldier.

“Yossi” is director Eytan Fox’s a sequel to his celebrated 2002 film “Yossi & Jagger.” It is an interesting examination of loneliness and the lasting impact of the death of a romantic partner. Haunted by the past Yossi is essentially a closed book. He goes about his life in a very regimented way. This allows him to distance himself from any sort of emotion. The film is about Yossi being drawn, rather than forced, out of his shell. He’s afraid, but in desperate need to move forward. Unfortunately the film doesn’t explore the complicated fact that Yossi’s way of moving forward is with someone who clearly reminds him of Jagger, but the it does do a nice job of getting the audience inside of Yossi’s head and understanding the emptiness and frustrated desire that has become his life. I’m intrigued by what might come next.

-Ryan Michael Painter