Walk on Water

Now this is what spy movie is supposed to be. Wonderful film about young Israeli assassin and spy who travels around the world terminating members of Mossad and all otherwise labeled enemies of the Israeli state. Our main character Eyal gets a special assignment to find grandfather of the young German brother and sister who was Nazi committing crimes against humanity during WWII. Eyal uses these young siblings as a source of information on the old Nazi fugitive who has been hiding in Argentina for decades. But as Eyal is working on this assignment, he is also fighting his own demons. Iris, a woman whom he loved, has committed suicide and in spite of him pushing aside his true feelings about this event, Eyal is forced to accept inevitable psychological changes that are slowly but surely overpowering him. As Eyal becomes close to siblings Axel adn Pia, he starts to understand his own self and comes to a point when he has to either accept or reject his new self. This is not a traditional spy movie, as we enjoy Eyal's humorous remarks. He is being funny with his superiors, and anyone who crosses his path. If you had to watch a film about assassin and had to choose between "Munich" and "Walk on Water", I woudl tell you, watch "Walk on Water". It is hundred times better - even with the subtitles!

Finally! A movie with a deep plot that held my interest. This movie was recommended to me by a friend who saw it on a movie channel. Having missed it, I bought it instead and am so glad that I did. It was made in Israel and contains some Hebrew that I was thrilled to hear. The story was complex but easy to follow which included problems with homosexuality as well as a hit man's role in the plot. It's the type of movie that you would not mind seeing again, which I also feel about Casablanca.

This film is a neatly told and affecting story, focusing on a Mossad agent who begins to question the point of some of the missions he's been sent on. Lior Ashkenazi is excellent as Eyal, the agent in question. Ashkenazi is a remarkable actor in that although he looks stolid and boring in still photos, as soon as he's moving in front of a camera he's extraordinarily subtle and involving; he also bears a remarkable resemblance to British actor Clive Owen (Croupier), but for my money he's a better actor than Owen. Knut Berger and Catherine Peters are similarly excellent as the German brother and sister who start out as Eyal's marks but end up as his friends. The soundtrack is quirky and fun and the movie as a whole is a bit of a triumph, in that it can be enjoyed be people (such as my wife) who are not all that interested in Israel or the Middle East, but just like and appreciate a good movie.

I find it odd that the very small minority of nutcases who really hate this movie have a perception of it as a 'gay film'. I am a secular heterosexual film fan who has loved the work of gay filmmakers such as the UK's Derek Jarman, but while homosexuality is a theme in this film, it's hardly The Theme. Eytan Fox would go on to make 'Yossi and Jagger', about two male Israeli soldiers who fall in love with each other; I haven't seen it, but on the strength of this little gem I'll give it a go.

This movie is excellent, even though not really a "gay movie". One of the main characters is gay, but this issue is not overly forced. I found the storyline good and the acting excellent. A bit of nudity from the main characters is added, but the whole movie otherwise is portrayed in a sensative way, though i found the end a bit disappointing. Highly recommended
Richard

"Walk on Water" is courageous film, confidently directed by Eytan Fox based on the screenplay written by his partner Gal Uchovsky and well acted. Its subject is a Mossad's agent whose new mission is to hunt the former Nazi criminal who lives nowadays somewhere in South America. In order to trace him, Eyal (Lior Ashkenazi) takes a job as a tourist guide for the grandson of war criminal - sociable, open, friendly young German, Axel. Axel arrives to Israel to visit his sister Pia who chose to live in Israel and work in a kibbutz and to talk her into reconciling with their parents. Eyal drives Alex in his SUV, shows him the country. They sit on the coast of Dead Sea, both smeared by celebrated therapeutic mud from neck to toes. In another scene, Alex tries to walk on the water of Kinarteth (the Sea of Galilee); three of them visit the gay- bar in Tel Aviv - Alex does not hide his sexual orientation.

The characters are interesting and compelling. The story is engaging and I feel connected to the movie the way very few movies make me. I recognize the places I've been to and I've come to love and to dream of seeing them again and again. The film starts in Istanbul, Turkey on the boat over the Bosphor and the guide talks about the bridge between Europe and Asia. I've been on the boat like that and I saw the bridge. Then the action takes place in Israel and I was happy to recognize Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, The Sea of Galilee (Kinereth), The Dead Sea where one just floats without swimming, the desert.

The plot moves from Israel to Berlin where Eyal is visiting with his new friend's family. Alex's and Pia's father celebrates his anniversary and for the first time, a helpless dying old man arrives to Berlin, the Nazi criminal, Axel's and Pia's grandfather, Eyal's target. The film explores the moral dead ends of the modern society full of hostility and old unpaid debts. Eyal remembers the history of his country and its people, he knows not from the books about Holocaust. He is a soldier and must be merciless but he has to learn something about understanding from his young German friend. Film attracts by the non-standard approach to the familiar themes of religious prejudices, homophobia, neo-fascism, newest terror and other sources of the hatred, which destroys the world. It would not surprise me to find out that the film has many detractors in Germany, Palestine, and in Israel. The final is a little too neat and belongs to the modern fairy tale genre. I see it as the director's dream that he wanted to come true - the people with different backgrounds, mentalities, history, and preferences would understand one another and would come toward one another with the open hearts and clean thoughts. Dreams, dreams...