Eyes Wide Open Released 14 May 2010 Director Haim Tabakman Starring Zohar Strauss Ran Danker Writer Merav Doster Producer Raphael Katz Origin Israel Running Time 90 minutes Genre Drama Rating 15A

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Eyes wide open.

With the success of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain came a chance for gay love stories to push their head above the parapet, and become a welcome alternative to the bursting-at-the-seams Hollywood cash vault of romance; tearjerkers and rom coms alike. Eyes Wide Open (Einaym Pkuhot), the debut of Israeli director Haim Tabakman is, (and this is a bit of a mouthful) a gay love story, set against the backdrop of a suppressive contemporary orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. And so I was interested, with such a tag line as this, to see how these hefty subjects would be handled by a virgin director.

So then, "Brokeback L' Chaim" (I may as well get that out of the way quickly) tells the story of Aaron, a thirty-something year old married man with kids, who has taken over his father's butcher shop following his death. He appears, for all intents and purposes, a run of the mill orthodox Jew living a humdrum existence in -you guessed it- an orthodox community in Jerusalem. The story runs in a wet and dreary winter and the dark dull scenery is mirrored by the beautiful, quiet and understated way in which the actors play their parts and follow routine. This all serves to underline the power that religious belief has over their lives, where emotions take a back seat and are pushed deep down as obedience to the Law of Torah takes precedence. One day a young yeshiva dropout (that's religious school for all of you not au-fait with Jewish tradition) takes shelter from the rain in Aaron's shop, and so begins a very slow moving and delicate love affair between them, that breathes colour into Aaron's life, and as can be imagined, leads to complications. Ezri, the love interest, is played by the undeniably red-hot Ran Danker, current heartthrob in Israeli film, and with his sultry moody looks and insistence on stripping off for a dip in a local holy pool, you can't really blame Aaron for eventually succumbing to what he sees first as a temptation to be overcome; a challenge thrown to him by God to test his faith.

This movie is not really a simple gay love story to add to a meagre collection created thus far; nor is it an indictment of the oppressive nature of a strict religion such as Orthodox Judaism. Instead it is a muted and restrained study of sexual desire versus religious obligation, and handles the religious backdrop in a respectful and sometimes touching manner. The scenes between the three points of the love triangle ; Aaron, his wife Rivka, and Ezri, display at times remarkable tenderness and unexpected passion, and the performances of these actors really give the movie a depth and reality which explains some of the film's well deserved plaudits. Religion is shown to be not just authoritative and dictatorial, like how the "modesty police" persecute people of questionable character, but also as a source of comfort, tolerance and guidance, as demonstrated by the Rabbi 's gentle offers of advice to Aaron, and the tenderness and joy obvious in some of the evening study sessions.

However I have to be honest, notwithstanding the skill required to bring such a complicated love story to screen with such understated elegance, there's a certain depth of emotion lacking in the movie. Zohar Strauss, who plays Aaron, fits the character completely and his ability to display quiet melancholy and then real joy is a pleasure to watch, and all the elements I've talked about already; the absence of melodrama, and the conflicts shown in love and religion, are impressive and show real talent. But I could talk till the cows come home about awards and skill and a slow moving script; unfortunately for me it's just far too slow moving and it becomes, well... (this is where I will probably be crucified) boring. It's pretty obvious from the outset how things will end up, being as it is a drama and not science fiction, and yet when it happens I don't feel the full force of sympathy for the characters…because I'm falling asleep. Saying this I think people should watch it, because there are many elements of beauty and finesse displayed and the talents involved, I hope, will move onto bigger and better (and hopefully more exciting) things.

- Eadaoin Browne