Four years after releasing his excellent debut feature, "The Dive," writer-director Yona Rosenkier returns with "The Road to Eilat" - a beautiful, surprising and moving comedy-drama about a drunken and old kibbutznik (the wonderful Shmuel Vilozny, who won the Ophir Prize for his performance here) and his depressed and alienated son (Yoel Rosenkier, the director's brother), who embark on a delusional week-long journey on a tractor, from the north of the country to the south.
Like "The Dive," this is a very personal and family film in which Rosenkier touches on issues close to his heart, and deals with post-trauma (in this case, the father's). However, it is important for him to emphasize that the road is spiced with a lot of humor and nonsense. "Don't forget to write that the movie is also funny," he asks during the interview. "I don't want them to think that everything is just dramatic and heavy."
The Road To Eilat - Trailer
"The Road to Eilat," which won the best film award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, marks a serious leap forward for the 42-year-old Rosenkier. The budget is bigger, the production is much more complex, and so is the scale and ambition.
"When I started working on the film, I didn't think it would be a problem," he says. "Two people on a tractor, how complicated can it be? What a mistake! In total we had 23 days of filming and something like 50 different locations. We had to carry this crappy tractor everywhere. We were like a traveling circus rolling from Kibbutz Yehiam to Eilat. I reached my limit, but the staff was tremendous. It was a crazy adventure."
Beyond the production challenges, I assume that the material the film deals with was not easy for you and your brother either.
"Yes, totally. We thought we were paying homage to our father, who passed away in 2012. A kind of love letter. I incorporated all kinds of details from his biography into the script and turned him into such a mythical, larger-than-life character. But Vilozny is very similar physically to my father, and I saw that it was very difficult for Yoel. I didn't take that into account when I wrote the script. At the end of the shoot, he told me it was like saying goodbye to my father again. I make very personal films. Cinema helps me deal with things, but once it's personal, you're more exposed to the kaffas you get."
"I don't want them to think that everything is just dramatic and heavy." Rosenkier, Photo: Ofer Medhar Basodo
Vilozny's casting is undoubtedly a stroke of brilliance. What was it like working with him?
"Magic. Film school. He brought with him a lot of joie de vivre and crazy humor, and he was so nice and kind. He took the role and devoured it. I received a gift. A generous and humble man who told me: 'Come direct me as much as you want, to the end.' My dream was for him to get the recognition he deserved as a leading actor, and that really happened with winning the Ophir Award."
When it comes to inspiration, Rosenkier cites Wim Wenders' travel films ("Paris, Texas," for example) and David Lynch's "Simple Story," of course, in which a kindly old man travels 400 miles on a lawnmower to visit his brother with whom he had not been in contact for years.
"Travel movies are one of my favorite cinematic genres," he says. "I was reluctant to be compared to David Lynch, but obviously 'A Simple Story' was going through my mind as I was writing. Meanwhile, Lynch searches for Good Old Americana, beauty and kindness. I wanted to make a film that goes through the periphery, through our forgotten backyard. Start with some well-worn racial stereotype, then find the humanity and specificity of the characters. The hope. The dreams. With all the criticism, there is a lot of human love in the film and a lot of love for this place."
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