The Wonders

Description

Product Description In Hebrew with English Subtitles Inspired by a true story, Avi Nesher's The Wonders combines genres, moods and influences everything from film noir to Alice in Wonderland to create a unique and compelling movie that mixes mystery, comedy, psychological thriller, political intrigue and romance. The story focuses on Arnav, a graffiti artist and bartender, who lives near the Old City of Jerusalem. Wearing a mask, he paints walls at night and hopes that Vax, his former girlfriend who recently "found religion," will come back to him. But when Arnav sees a mysterious stranger forced into an abandoned apartment across the way by three bearded men, he becomes involved with a hard-boiled investigator, a gorgeous mystery woman, and the conflicted, mysterious captive himself. Review "Smart, Stylish and Sophisticated Dramedy" --Alissa Simon, Variety"A Very Funny Offbeat Mystery" --Huffington Post"Best Israeli movie of the year. A movie that delight all those who love cinema" --Cinemascope P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Director AVI NESHER - Director, co-Writer, co-Producer:One of Israel's most influential directors, Nesher was born in Israel but spent much of his adolescence in New York, where he studied at Ramaz Yeshiva and Columbia University. At age 18, Nesher left Columbia to serve in the Special Forces branch of the Israeli army. Nesher's first movie, The Troupe (1979), was an irreverent look at an army entertainment troupe. It was a big hit with audiences, especially young people, and has become a cult classic. A year later, Nesher wrote and directed Dizengoff 99, the story of a group of young people in Tel Aviv. Next, Nesher shifted gears and made Rage and Glory, a controversial film about a Jewish underground organization during the 1940s. The movie set off a heated debate in Israel, and in 2001 was selected by the Lincoln Center Film Society as one of the most important Israeli films of all time. After seeing Rage and Glory, producer Dino De Laurentiis convinced Nesher to come to Hollywood. Nesher started as a writer, penning studio assignments for such filmmakers as Ron Howard and James Cameron. In 1990, Nesher wrote and directed the sci-fi mystery, Timebomb, for MGM (produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis) and the supernatural mystery, Doppelganger, starring Drew Barrymore, for 20th Century Fox. Both films won prizes at the Avoriaz Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival in France. The success of Doppelganger created an alliance between Nesher and Buena Vista International, which led to the production of several tongue-in-cheek genre movies, most of which premiered on the HBO network. Nesher's next theatrical offering, Taxman, which he wrote, produced and directed, opened to critical acclaim. The New York Times called it, "A delight... a charmer of a mystery." In 2001, Nesher returned to Israel to write and direct Turn Left at the End of the World, which was released in 2004. The film, which tells the story of two teenage girls growing up in an isolated desert town, became Israel's biggest box-office success. In 2010, it was included on the Jerusalem Post's list of the 10 best Israeli films of the past decade. Later in 2004, Nesher's experimental political documentary, Oriental, won the "In the Spirit of Freedom" Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. Nesher's next film, The Secrets (2007), about young ultra-Orthodox women who meet a mysterious Frenchwoman, played by Fanny Ardant, premiered as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was hailed by The Hollywood Reporter as, "Witty and wise, sensual and emotionally over-powering one of the best Israeli movies in recent years." New York Observer critic Andrew Sarris called it, "One of the best movies of the year." Later that year, Nesher received the Cinematic Excellence Award from the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in 2009 received an award for his life's work from the Haifa International Film Festival. Nesher's 2010 film, The Matchmaker, inspired by Amir Gutfreund's novel, When Heroes Fly, was produced by David Silber, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery and Chilik Michaeli. It also had its premiere as an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Set in Haifa in 1968, it tells the story of an Israeli teenage boy who gets a summer job working for a Holocaust survivor who runs a matchmaking service. The movie received wide critical acclaim and popular success, and its stars, Adir Miller and Maya Dagan, won Israel's Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress. It also won a Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival. Kenneth Turan, the film critic for The Los Angeles Times, called The Matchmaker, "Beautiful, honest... an insightful portrait of Israel." See more