FIVE HOURS FROM PARIS
Official Selection TIFF 2009 – Discovery
Winner – Best Film, Haifa IFF 2009
“These days, the world could use sweeter, mature, thoughtful romance, and FIVE HOURS FROM PARIS delivers it in spades.” TIFF
“The sweetly thesped pic should travel extensively…” Variety
“Keren and Yaralova deliver warm performances and maintain a chemistry that’s as soft-spoken as it is mature. Prudovsky is a promising talent.” Now Toronto
“A refreshingly sincere and mature romance.” Hamptons International Film Festival
Synopsis:
Yigal (Dror Keren, of ADAM RESURRECTED) is, at first glance, a mild-mannered everyman who maintains a close relationship with his ex-wife and her new husband because of his devotion to his son. Yigal drives a taxi for a living, and while he is a master of ground travel, he harbours a secret fear that stands in the way of his lifelong dream: he yearns to visit Paris but is petrified of flying. Dropping his son off at choir practice one day, he catches a glimpse of the music teacher, Lina (Elena Yaralova), whose dark, dimpled beauty belies a growing emotional unrest. Dateless since his divorce, Yigal proceeds in small steps, even when Lina discloses that she and her physician husband, Russians by birth, will soon emigrate to Canada. Yigal insists he wants nothing more than friendship, and the two begin a tentative emotional minuet.
TIFF also said:
The abiding pleasure of Five Hours from Paris is experiencing the gentle albeit profound impact each one has on the other’s life. They are unlikely lovebirds – Lina is highly educated and has lived in several countries, while Yigal has rarely left his Tel Aviv suburb – but he sees her in a way that her partner of many years does not. When Lina’s husband learns of her emotional attachment to another man, she is forced to make an excruciating decision.
FIVE HOURS FROM PARIS is a remarkably assured first film from director Leon Prudovsky, delving into complex emotional themes for one so young. The script, co-written by Prudovsky and Erez Kav-El, allows Keren (one of Israel’s most accomplished actors) and Yaralova to explore all the nuance and shy humour that characterize a new attraction. More importantly, though, the film underscores what we all want to believe is true: when it comes to love, what matters is not money or sex but soul and spirit.
