Either you come out in the middle of this movie, or you think it's one of the best movies you've seen

For a long time now there has been no talk of a film like there is about "everything everywhere at once" - a film that takes ancient ideas, some comforting and some dark, and presents them in a way we have never seen before.

The result is surprising and exhausting, condescending and cheeky, exciting and tossing

Avner Shavit

24/04/2022

Sunday, 24 April 2022, 00:14 Updated: 03:48

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Trailer for the movie "Everything Everywhere at Once" (United King)

Star rating for movies - 3.5 stars (Photo: Image Processing,.)

What has changed this Passover?

At least when it comes to movie theaters, there has been some encouraging news recently.

The news of the precedent-setting decline in Netflix shares signaled that the audience may be tired of the rather lousy content that awaits it in front of the couch;

The government’s decision to abolish the mask duty made the return to the halls more pleasant;

And perhaps most important of all, in perfect timing with this encouraging move, one of the most talked about and acclaimed films of the last two and damned years has hit theaters over the weekend - "Everything Everywhere at Once".

The film came out in the United States a month ago, and arrives here as it is carried on a wave of unprecedented reviews.

On the excellent website for Trabox, which centers the opinions of film lovers from all over the world, he even climbed to the top of the list of most esteemed films in its history.

Even the Israeli media, which is usually happy to pour cold water on the enthusiasm of the Americans, have finished praising this hit.

What is all the fuss about?

The film was produced by the Russo brothers, who are the directors responsible for the latest "Avengers" films, and was directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Sheinart.

The two call themselves "The Daniels", broke up with "The Pocket Man" a few years ago and thanks to their success here have finally positioned themselves as the hottest names in Hollywood.

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Equally it could also have been a film about a Jewish family.

From "Everything Everywhere at Once" (Photo: United King)

In the spirit of the times, the film deals with an immigrant family - in this case, Americans of Chinese descent.

Like many in this ethnic group, her family business is a laundromat.

The laundromat, it turns out, was trying to launder its taxes, leading to an unpleasant encounter with an uncompromising income tax clerk played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

The blame falls on the shoulders of the mother of the family, played by Michelle Yao, the dominant figure in business and home life.

It turns out that this is not her only problem: she suffers from a strained relationship with her partner, who submits her divorce papers;

With her father and especially with her daughter, who to her displeasure is having a lesbian relationship.

Up to this point it sounds like a routine family drama, but here comes the twist: it turns out that like many recent superhero movies, "Everything is Everywhere at Once" assumes that our universe is just one of countless parallel universes, and opens the gates to them .

This is how we encounter alternative versions of our world, for example one in which humans have sausage-like fingers, and also of the heroes and heroines.

It turns out that in our world the protagonist is a failed washerwoman, but in other worlds she is a kung fu artist, a movie star, a chef and so on.

And what about her daughter?

We will stop the plot detail and not find out the answer.

It is only said that the script turns out to be an inexhaustible spring of twists, inventions and surprises.

Legendary actors and legendary actresses.

From "Everything Everywhere at Once" (Photo: United King)

"Everything Everywhere at Once" is a rather long film (139 minutes), very tangled and horribly original, but in its heart one can find some simple and ancient ideas.

First of all, the assumption that this world is not the only one.

This is a comforting thought, because it implies that if we are disappointed or dissatisfied with our existence - it is possible that in a parallel reality we are the kings of England, and we did not even have to die and experience reincarnation for it.

It's hard not to rejoice at this thought, so it's easy to see why films about multi-universes are successful.

In addition, the script also presents a darker idea: if people become monsters, it is not their fault but the fault of their parents who made them such.

The film deals in a complex, sensitive and exciting way with the issue of the relationship between mothers and daughters, as well as other big questions - personal identity, sexual identity, tradition and progress.

Similar to Pixar's "Red Fire" released a few months ago, this film also takes place in a very specific culture of Chinese-North American distribution, but deals with extremely universal issues that the entire audience can connect to.

All the elements here, and especially the character of the dominant and intervening mother, are also relevant to Jewish-American families, and equally it could have been a film about such a family.

It's not just one of the leading images here is of a bagel - the dish most identified with American Jews.

The theoretical abundance is nothing compared to the cinematic imagination.

Almost every movement in the film presents a different technique, and in this sense it is sometimes more reminiscent of a stage performance than a commercial hit.

The setting, the tone, the attitude - everything changes all the time.

Sometimes "Everything Everywhere at Once" is a martial arts comedy, and sometimes it is reminiscent of abstract and philosophical works like "The Tree of Life."

I watched the film twice and at both screenings the audience kept bursting out laughing.

Not because the result is so amusing, or trying to amuse, but in response to the directors' daring and impudence.

They never present things as simple, and use every possible alienation to give representation to what the heroines are going through.

If you thought you've seen everything before, you have not seen anything yet.

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A bag of surprises.

From "Everything Everywhere at Once" (Photo: United King)

The casting of the film is also a bag of surprises.

In addition to veteran Michelle Yao and Jamie Lee Curtis, he also features Jonathan Ka Kwan, who became famous as a kid in "Indiana Jones and the Cursed Temple" but has barely played since, and James Hong, 93. If you scratch it. Head and try to remember where he is familiar to you - maybe you remember him as the host in the episode "The Chinese Restaurant" in "Seinfeld", or from one of the six hundred (approximately) other roles he played throughout his long career.

Beside them stands Stephanie Hess, in the role of the youngest and most rebellious daughter in the family.

Unlike the names already mentioned earlier, her resume has almost no prominent landmarks, but that does not stop her from stealing the show from all the legendary names on its side, and it is believed that much more will be heard about her.

We will also mention the Jewish comedian Jenny Slate, in the role of a young client who if the Chinese family remarks twice about the unusual size of her nose - an illustration of the sting of this character, and also that in immigration countries, minorities do not always identify with each other, but often mock each other .

It was strange to me to see a leading comedian like Slate appear here in such a meager role, so I was not surprised to find that she originally had a more significant volume, but it was cut in the edit.

This is a marginal matter.

A more substantial matter, reminiscent of a recurring problem in Trentino's recent films, is the excesses of the Daniels.

Do they really have to prove to us their mastery of any cinematic technique?

Do they really have to illustrate to us that their skill is flawless?

Do they really have to bring to the canvas everything they have ever learned or knew?

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Steals the show.

Stephanie Hess in "Everything Everywhere at Once" (Photo: United King)

Fortunately, whenever there is a danger that the film will be smug, exhausting or condescending, there is an emotional climax that balances this.

Although they weave a web here with countless webs, the Daniels do not forget for a moment that in the end, at the heart of the film beats a beautiful and simple story about a mother and daughter learning to accept each other.

As befits its compelling name, "Everything Everywhere at Once" skips lightly to the top of the list of the most creative films to come out so far this decade, and meets "Titan" there.

It is interesting to note that behind all the cinematic antics of both, the two films deal with the same one basic theme: the love of a parent for his offspring.

Ultimately, this is the issue that transcends everything and everywhere - in our universe, and probably in the parallel universes as well.

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