Walk on Water

This 2004 Israeli film captured my interest from the very first frame and held it throughout this tightly woven story.

Even before the credits roll we meet Eyal, played by Lior Askenazi, assassinating someone. It's a scene that plays fast and cruel, especially since the small child of the victim watches it all with big-eyed wonder. We quickly learn that Eyal is a Mossad agent who, after being warmly acknowledged by his Israeli superiors, goes home to find that his wife has committed suicide. All of this happens in the first ten minutes, setting a background for an intriguing story.

The Mossad still want to bring every single Nazi war criminal to justice, even though the few of them still alive are quite elderly. The granddaughter of one of them has emigrated to Israel and now lives in a Kibbutz. Her brother is coming to visit her. Eyal is ordered to act as a tour guide for the brother and try to get information about the grandfather. Eyal wants to decline. He thinks the Israelis should "get over" the atrocities of WWII which happened long before he was born, but he accepts the assignment. The German brother, Knut, played by Axel Himmelman, at first seems like a nerd. Eyal is bored with him and with his sister and doesn't want to do this assignment. But, after bugging their apartment, he hears Knut, who happens to be gay, try to convince his sister to come home to Germany because the grandfather might just come back from Argentina, where he has lived for the past 50 years, for a birthday celebration. She refuses. She has chosen to live in a Kibbutz to atone for her family's part in the War and doesn't want to have anything to do with her Nazi grandfather.

Eyal, acting as a tour guide, now takes Knut on a sightseeing trip. Knut is a pacifist and Eyal scoffs at that. Eyal sees himself as tough and tries not to think deeply about the violence around him. He despises Palestinians and is very reluctant to take Knut to a Palestinian city where Knut makes a connection with a gay Palestinian and soon Eyal, the sister and the brother are going to a large and loud party where everyone is having a good time. There's definitely tension between the brother and Eyal and the director made sure to do a scene where they visit the Dead Sea and then take outdoor showers together.

Soon though, Knut returns to Germany and Eyal is commanded to go there to murder the elderly grandfather. Here, there's a scene where Eyal pulls a gun on some street toughs who attack some of the brother's transvestite friends. All of a sudden, it is clear that he is a trained assassin and Knut's suspicions are aroused.

How this all plays out is fascinating. Here is the Israeli agent now being invited to the palatial home of Knut's parents to honor the elderly Nazi war criminal. What happens then is the crux of the story.

I loved this film even though there were a few details of script that used some silly plot devices. But the acting was wonderful and I appreciated the kind of moral questions the story raised. I also liked the settings and the use of languages. The Israeli characters spoke Hebrew to each other. The German and Israeli characters spoke English to each other. And the German characters spoke German to each other. Even a small detail like this added to the authenticity of the film.

Walk on Water takes a unique spin on events as real as today's headlines. I don't remember it ever being released in theaters. But it is on DVD. So please do see it if you can.

This film is about finding a Nazi approximately 50 years after World War II in order to assassinate him. The Mossad agent, Eyal, just returned from Turkey and killed a terrorist there. His new assignment is to be a tour guide to a young German named Alex Himmelman, whose grandfather was the Nazi killer. The plan is to get friendly with this tourist and learn whether or not his grandfather is still alive, then "to do God's work before God is ready to take him" according to the Director of Mossad. The elder Himmellman is believed to be alive in Argentina where he escaped after the war. Unfortunately, when Eyal arrives home after the Turkish assignment, he finds his wife dead on their bed. She had committed suicide ... This life-altering event may affect his judgement and skills according to his superior. He is offered counseling but declines. His shooting abilities are tested on a target range from time to time, to ensure he is able to complete this important mission.

The film is fascinating on many levels. It delves into a deeply serious subject and questions the ethics of doing this type of work in a most creative and artistic manner. As Eyal becomes more friendly with Alex and his sister Pia who lives on a kibbutz, he begins to like them. Eyal places a bug in Pia's apartment to catch any conversation they may have about their grandfather's past. The conversations are all innocent until one night, when Alex tries to pursuade Pia to return to Berlin to visit her parents, to attend her father's birthday party. It turns out, Pia had a huge fight with her dad about the cover-up of what her grandfather had done during the war. One does wonder, why does the granddaughter of a Nazi end up working in a kibbutz in Israel? The film builds suspense and mystery based on this very question. The complex nature of the film makes it a superior viewing experience. The subject of the film is dealt with in a senstive manner and is balanced with humor. Eyal is played by a very handsome Israeli actor who befriends Alex and then learns by chance that Alex is gay. This subject is presented in a natural flow within the story line of the film ... The metaphor of "walking on water" as Jesus did on the Sea of Galilee is used with great affect and meaning. The viewer will be thrilled and entertained as intensity builds and the mysteries become more complex before they are resolved. There is a huge unexpected climax before the surprise ending brings about a 360 degree resolution to the conflicts. This is a most highly recommended viewing experience. Erika Borsos (pepper flower)

Walk on Water is now on my list of favorite movies. I have watched it several times and have enjoyed it every time. The actors are fantastic. They are totally believable and when you are through watching the movie, you feel as if you have made new friends.

I had not seen Lior Ashkenazi, Knut Berger nor Caroline Peters in any movie before, but because of this movie, I plan to search out and watch other movies of theirs. The director, Eytan Fox, was born in New York, but was 2 when his family immigrated to Israel. I will also have to check out other movies he directed, as he did a wonderful job in this movie.

The last part of this movie was totally unexpected. What happened in Germany and then back in Israel. I don't want to make this review a spoilier, so I won't say just what it was. But I will say this, the movie ended happily, which doesn't happen too often in a movie of this kind.

So anyone who is interested in German-Jewish relations will throughly enjoy this movie. Also anyone who enjoys surprises in a movie, will enjoy this movie. Plus it is a little bit of Israeli James Bond. And if you like a happy-feel good ending, this is the movie for you.

And for those of you who don't speak Hebrew or German, don't worry, most of the movie is in English and what isn't has subtitles.

I am a hard core Zionist. Areil Sharon is my hero. In many respects, Walk on Water is not my sort of story. It seems to imply that Palestinians are victims of Israeli aggression. Also, it subtly argues that violence only begets more violence. Peace is supposedly the only real option. Nonetheless, this tale about an existentially challenged Mossad hit man is challenging. The acting is superb. Israel is truly a beautiful country and its people generous and civilized. Are you even minimally interested in the Israeli experience? If so, I strong recommend this film.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

To my belief, this movie is a real example of a modern masterpiece where a huge volume of information presented expertly: I cannot omit recalling and comparing it with some other Jewish/Israel related films.

Rather less action-depicting and much scarce on political controversy than "Munich (Full Screen Edition)", definitely more realistic and leaving a room to imagination than "When Do We Eat?", incorporating eventually predominant attitude and mixed approach to fellow Israeli-Arabs as characters in "The Holy Land" & "Paradise Now", much less sexually explicit than by the same producers "Yossi & Jagger" and too many other Israeli blockbuster dramas, it is a sort of a movie I feel must be seen a couple of times to grasp a depth of meanings memorised.

Itself, return to a seen movie to watch once more is a mark of excellence created by Israelis on Israeli reality, Israel place in and interaction with a world, and global issues as they seen by the Jews of the Jewish State definitely.