Here is a film that surprised me. For the better. ‘Per amore di una donna‘ (or ‘For the Love of a Woman‘ in English) is a film by an Italian director I didn’t know named Guido Chiesa. I chose to see the film because it is an adaptation of a novel by an Israeli writer I greatly admired (Meir Shalev) and includes in the cast Mili Avital (an Israeli actress with a more than honorable career in Hollywood) as well as Ana Ularu, an excellent Romanian actress whose career I also follow whenever I get the chance. The two actresses did not disappoint me, but I also discovered a film that captivated me, based on a well-constructed script around the drama of a family with many secrets and an unusual romantic story, grafted on the history of Israel and the Mandatory Palestine that preceded it.
The narrative has two plans. Esther, an American woman in her 40s, receives after her mother’s death, in the late 1970s, a mysterious envelope containing a strange necklace and a letter urging her to travel to Israel (where the family had come from a long time ago) to discover secrets about her family and about herself. Without much enthusiasm, the woman will make the journey to a world very different in mentality, culture, history. Here she will discover that her destiny is linked to that of another woman named Yehudit, who had lived in the 1930s and 1940s in Palestine, which was then under British mandate. The encounter with this different world and with Zayde, a slightly strange, slightly charming man, an ornithologist by profession, will turn into an exploration of her own past, but will also allow her and the spectators to discover of a very special love story.
The romantic thread works very well. The portrait of the woman who had lived decades ago in those places, alone in a world that was emerging and that was also changing traditions and relationships between people in general, men and women in particular, is very well brought to the screen. The creations of the entire team of actors contribute here. Ana Ularu creates a fantastic role, her Yehudit will remain in the memory and hearts of those who see the film. Her character is a beautiful and strong woman, a fighter who refuses victim status despite the blows and prejudices. All the actors and especially the performers of the roles of the three men in Yehudit’s life do a good job. A good note also for Ori Pfeffer in the role of Zayde, to whom he gives warmth and sincerity. It is not easy to unite an international team of actors, formed by Italians, Romanians, Israelis (including two very well-known actors in supporting roles) and from other countries and direct them to play a story that takes place in Israel in English. Guido Chiesa managed this very well, in my opinion, and succeeded to fairly reconstruct the atmosphere of Israel in the 1970s and that of the Jewish settlements before the creation of the state of Israel. The sole dissonant note was the use of English for the scenes that took place in the 1930s and 1940s, the immigrants and pioneers of that time (most of them) spoke other languages, but the difficulties of casting and execution would probably have been insurmountable. Even if the approach is sometimes uneven, with some episodes expedited while others are over-explained, I think most of the obstacles have been overcome. ‘Per amore di una donna‘ with its story of love and resilience in a new world, with the luminous figure of the main heroine, is worth seeking for and watching.