Directed by Moshe Rosenthal
26 mins, Israel, 2018
SYNOPSIS
Official Site
Uri, a 50-year-old family man, has a romantic secret relationship with Oded, a young man from their small town in the south of Israel. During a trip in the desert, the two are forced to deal with the tragic consequences of their type of relationship.
I’ve always believed — to the consternation of many of my peers over the years — that the reluctance to come out doesn’t just represent a lack of courage but also an ethical failure. Yes, we should be compassionate and patient with our closeted brothers, but we shouldn’t pretend that lying about who you are isn’t a character flaw — like, a major one, especially when you’re 50-fucking-years-old.
Moshe Rosenthal’s short formally externalizes the repercussions of such a failure using the suspense generated within a personal disaster scenario in the desert and a militarized heterosexist social milieu in the state of Israel.
A closeted older man sojourns into the wilderness with his much younger lover hidden in the backseat, pointedly circumventing checkpoints. When an accident occurs to the younger man on a hike, the older man must decide what means more to him — his reputation and status within the dominant social order or the body and safety of his companion. Because of the ethical trap we find ourselves in while observing this couple, Rosenthal doesn’t allow us as the audience to be sure of any outcome, right up to the final frame. However, there’s one question we can ask: Is this young man safe with this closet case? Is anyone?
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