Fantastisch 2013
Distributed by Ruth Diskin Films Ltd., P.O.Box 7153, Jerusalem, 91071, ISRAEL
Produced by Yahaly Gat - Muse Productions
Directed by Ofra Sarel-Koren
DVD, color and b&w, 65 min.
High School - General Adult
Clowns, Israel, Judaism, Aging
Date Entered: 07/01/2015
Reviewed by Michael Fein, Coordinator of Library Services, Central Virginia Community College, Lynchburg, VAShmulik Lesched, aged 100 in this film, lives in Haifa, Israel and is still a vibrant and rather pig-headed individual. He lives alone and has a caregiver, Mira, who is originally from the Soviet Union/Russia and half his age. She has come in daily to help take care of him for many years. Shmulik seems to have friends everywhere and loves to play his accordion in a clown suit in public – be it in Israel or in his travels to Germany. To say that he is an example of “positive mental attitude” is to say that water is wet. Always exuberant – “fantastisch” is one of his favorite expressions – he is quite charming, certainly a lot of fun (in somewhat small doses), but can sometimes wear out his welcome, a fact that Mira relates to the camera and which we see in his travels to Europe and in his strained relationship with his children and grandchildren. This reviewer would love to visit him for a couple of hours, but would be very, very reluctant to have him be an overnight guest. As of the writing of this review he recently passed the age of 102. Seer fantastisch!!! The film is technically excellent and would be a nice addition to collections in Jewish studies and the aged.