I remember the first time I realized that Shashon Gabbay is a real movie star, one who lights up the screen. It was in the third episode of the movie “Tel Aviv Stories” from 1992. There he played a policeman who was taken hostage by policewoman Tikva in her struggle to get a divorce from her husband who left her in agony. At the time, much was said about the great performance of Anat Waxman in the role of Tikva, and Gabbay was not mentioned at all in the reviews. But his quiet presence by her side as a man who gives her support without taking away the limelight from her and shows a romantic potential, is what made the film for me.
Thirty years have passed since then, and Gabbay has become the greatest film (and television and theater) actor in Israel. The three Ophir awards he won in the past were joined by the fourth Ophir for his performance in “Karaoke”, and this is the most expected and most deserved win imaginable. The scene in which he performs a karaoke version of Avi Toledano’s “What’s Important Today” will surely become an instant classic of Israeli cinema, because like the birthday scene in “Abia’s Summer”, it has a complete dedication to pathos, alongside a heart-wrenching embarrassment.
But let’s go back to the beginning and see how the movie gets there. The couple Meir (Gabai) and Tova (Rita Shukron, “Orange People”) live in an apartment tower in Holon. He is a teacher on sabbatical, she has a fashion boutique in the mall at the foot of the building, and it seems that except for once a year when they go to Rhodes, they do not leave their limited radius. Meir is a quiet and introverted man, faded even, that nothing manages to move him. Tova still makes sure to look fashionable, and beneath her effortful pretense pulses a real desire to suck a little more pleasure out of life.
One day, a luxury sports car blocks Meir’s car in the parking lot, and a neighbor (Aryeh Cherner) encourages him to go out of his way to protest. This leads to a first meeting with Itzik Marciano (Lior Ashkenazi), a model agent from Miami who has just moved into a penthouse in the building. He invites them to an apology dinner, perfumes them with compliments and his success stories, opens a window to another life for them, and then inadvertently closes it. The Blaine bachelor usually holds karaoke parties in his apartment for beautiful young men and women. The volume disturbs the injured Meir and Tova, but also makes each of them want to participate in the celebration. And so we get to that scene where Meir sings “What’s important today”. Later he will also dance, and the two musical scenes are the moving highlights of the film. “Karaoke” is not a musical in the classical sense, but in the key moments it longs to be one. In this way he resembles his heroes, which is very beautiful.
You have a reason to dance, Sasson Gabay. From “Karaoke”. Photo: Courtesy of Lev Cinema
Moshe Rosenthal, who wrote and directed “Karaoke”, defines it as a coming-of-age film (for people in their sixties). This is an interesting way to see the film, which in terms of the dramatic pattern belongs to the Neighbors movie genre, such as the Spanish “Upstairs Neighbors” currently showing in Israel, and the American “Neighbors” from 2014 (with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne). These films tell of bourgeois couples whose lives have settled into a comfortable but barren routine, who meet new neighbors with turbulent lives that break them out of their fixation, for better or for worse. If I’m not mistaken, “Karaoke” is the first Israeli film of this kind, and the variation it offers is unique, interesting and coherent enough to jump it to the top of the pile. Rosenthal’s precise direction, which often focuses the camera on the reaction before showing us what provoked it, gives the film a mockingly ironic, yet empathetic tone. The film sneers at the characters while making us fall in love with them, and wish them well.
The slippery Marciano is an intriguing and elusive character, who contributes to the film a slight aroma of horror. We never know if his niceness is real or completely fake. Is he as rich and happy as he presents himself, or is he a lonely and hollow man? Either way, his presence in the building serves as a catalyst for Meir and Tova’s relationship, and for each of them on their own. Gabbay is at his peak as the extinguished man who comes to life and develops an ego, and the top meeting between him and the excellent Ashkenazi is everything we could have hoped for. The lesser-known Shukron is no less excellent than the big stars by her side, and for that she won the Ophir. Her appearance in the film as a woman who wants to be the star in her own life should give her this status.
4 stars. Directed by: Moshe Rosenthal. With Sasson Gabai, Rita Shukron, Lior Ashkenazi, Aryeh Cherner, Kobi Farage, Alma Dishi. Israel 2022, 103 min.