A sensitive drama with a mystery at its core, the Israeli feature The Kind Words combines humour and pathos.
At age 35, Dorona’s (Rotem Zissman-Cohen) life seems to have hit a dead-end. She can’t have children, she’s abandoned attempts at adoption and she seems intent on pushing her loving husband, Ricky, as far away as possible. On top of this, her father has left her mother after 30 years of marriage.
Writer and director Shemi Zarhin loves stories where life is lived “on the edge”. The siblings are facing uncharted waters and they aren’t sure what to do and how to achieve closure, so they follow their instincts and bumble their way from one situation into another.
Astute character development is an important ingredient. Zarhin ensures Dorona and her two brothers have distinct personalities traits to help endear them to an audience. And spurned husband Ricky is a particularly sympathetic soul who realises the only way for Dorona to step back into his life is to give her space … but not too much.
Having said that, the film tends to waver in the second half and it goes on for too long – it becomes somewhat laborious in teasing out the whodunit element in the script. Consider that here we have three children looking for answers and obviously in so doing they will face several obstacles. For mine, it became a little too poetic and lyrical in reaching its conclusion.
Having said that, The Kind Words has a beautiful look and feel to it. Director of Photography Ronald Plante has done a fine job capturing the grandeur of Paris and Marseille. So while it starts out stronger than it ended, it is certainly a worthy film that will capture some hearts and minds in probing the importance of family and heritage. Rated M, The Kind Words scores a 6 ½ to 7 out of 10.
Director: Shemi Zarhin
Cast: Rotem Zissman-Cohen, Roy Assaf, Assaf Ben-Shimon
Release Date: 1 September 2016 (limited)
Rating: M
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television