In one of Amy Schumer’s classic sketches, the comedian meets three older actresses in the middle of the forest – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey and Patricia Arquette – who are celebrating an ancient holiday, “Last F**kable Day”. The insight of the skit is one: women in the entertainment industry can have a beautiful career, sometimes even a really successful one, but all of this has a very clear expiration date – the day you stop being desirable, or simply too old.
I remembered this wisdom while watching “Who’s heard of Hava and Nava?”, which went up yesterday (Thursday) in its entirety to yes. The series, a product of the trio that brought you “My Successful Sisters” (creators Galit Hogi and Noa Arenberg, and director Guri Alfi), deals with the story of two older women – Chava Nesher (Karen Mor) and Nava Koffman (Hannah Leslau), both of whom are members of the Armored Corps Not the most successful ones who tried to face the world after being thrown from the jaws of the industry, and not with considerable success. Nava is an employee at the electric company who specializes in not doing her job, Hava is looking for herself in the world after the sudden death of her husband. And even though both of them make a terrible effort to move forward, their past – for better or for worse – haunts them.
The lines of comparison to “My Successful Sisters” are almost inevitable – this series also deals with sisterhoods of women who are at different places on the human scale (a confused, disconnected and somewhat naive farm, an assertive, combinatorial and snarky Nava) but ultimately connects them with a common destiny. Both, in the end, are women who understood their place in the food chain. As long as you try to open your mouth or do what you want, and not what others dictate to you, it will be very bad for you.
And the presence of the atmosphere of sexual harassment in the series cannot be ignored either; A kind of real and painful look at the period to which he returns – and at the particular gap between then and now. The chauvinistic attitude of Giora Getz (and also of Commander “Gulliver”, who clearly alludes to Gandhi’s stories, in a short role by Gal Toran) is one that runs as the common thread between all the episodes, in which the women have to jump through the hoops of the powerful men who run the business.
This is how Hogi and Erenberg come to say to the general public: Is this period that you imagine beautiful and nostalgic? So cold “the good and beautiful land of Israel”? It was less like that than you think. And alongside the parable about the fate of women in Hebrew (and global) entertainment, there is an interesting look at the heart of the Israeli entertainment industry in the sixties and seventies: the military bands, which were the source of strength for Israeli show business at that time. If you like, “Hava and Nava” is “the band” in a much more realistic and funny version, and much less flashy.
If in “Lahka” the character of the eccentric composer (which is simply a nice way of saying “a really bad person”) was Paul Aviv, played by Tovia Tzafir – a thorn in the ass, but one whose craziness is treated with a forgiving smile – then in “Hava and Nava” his character is He is Giora Getz (the excellent Asaf Yunesh, and we will keep the identity of his older version as a surprise) – absolutely the villain of the series, the one who uses the power given to him to use and throw away the young girls he gets into his hands, and sometimes even transfer them to other hands.
Besides, as in “My Successful Sisters”, there is a very high-level cast that includes not only the older actors who make a spectacular comeback (led by, of course, the wonderful Moore and Leslaw who prove how much quality they have), but also younger names. The comedian Talia Bertfeld stars as the young Nava, Hila Goldenberg destroys as Tslim (Nava’s daughter), and also the rapper Tona who continues his interesting penetration into the mainstream and the role he gave in “Sisters”, even if in my opinion his character is a little detached from the general tone of the series. Yes, it’s a funny series, but when Raz suddenly starts punching, it works less well than the great comedic moments of Tslid.
“Whoever heard of a farm and a nave.” Photo: photographer Avishag Shear Yishuv
Another rapper who appears is Omer Evron (Jimbo J) who is surprisingly good, and also the screenwriter Assaf Shalmon (“Wonderful Country”) who provides one of the best supporting roles. And speaking of interesting characters involved in the series, it is also important to mention the great Guy Mazig who wrote new “military band” songs together with the creators (alongside the old songs that still appear here and there), and connect in a natural way to the period, including a slight ironic look.
“Who has heard of Hava and Nava” is another step in the development of Hogi Varenberg as great artists. “The Successful Sisters” was the first stage, and “Hava and Nava” is a step up. Both series are good and fun to watch, but in “Hava and Nava” there is something more complete – if the main plot line of “The Sisters” began with the abandonment of childhood, then following their exploits over three seasons, then here is a cohesive story: Hava’s attempts to find her place in the world , and Nava’s struggles for telling the truth against the lies. The result is simply excellent, everything we could want from the creators and more. And it’s worth the time for a short, light, smart and funny binge. And then what if they are older than we are used to?
>> All the episodes of “Who Heard of Hava and Nava” are available on yes’s VOD, the first two episodes on YouTube: