By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Ruthy Pribar
Starring: Alena Yiv | Eden Halili | Gera Sandler | Nadia Tichonova | Or Barak | Shira Haas | Tamir Mula
Country: israel
Year: 2021
Running time: 85
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10032266/reference
Michael says: “Mother/daughter stories, we’ve seen a lot of them, and at first, ASIA seems like it might be a bit of a daughter taking care of an irresponsible mother reminiscent of a favorite film of mine, OR (MY TREASURE). ASIA sidesteps that path, and suddenly we think we might heading in more of a TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, or STEEL MAGNOLIAS direction. Writer/director Ruthy Pribar’s too smart for that as well. Instead, we meet Asia, a hard-working, hard-partying woman in her mid-thirties, who works long hours as a nurse, then takes private jobs doing home healthcare, to keep food on the table, and perhaps good medical insurance for her daughter, Vika. The two seem to have little in commons, as Vika hangs out at the skate park with her best friend, the more experienced Natalie, flirting with the boys and doing some teenaged smoking and drinking. When Asia gets a call that Vika is in the emergency room in the hospital where she works, we learn that the teenager suffers from a degenerative disease, most likely muscular dystrophy (although never stated) and drinking alcohol doesn’t mix well with her medication. Once the set-up is revealed, the heart of the film begins, as the two women are forced to discover the heart of their familial relationship despite fits and starts, anger, frustration, sex, silliness, and a true bond of love that was always there, but emerges as Vika’s health continues to fail.
“Pribar has written a great script, and her direction is assured, with nothing extraneous, producing a compact 85 minute film. It’s the acting that really lifts ASIA above the expected melodrama. Alena Yiv perfectly balances a young woman who had a child far too early, struggling to care for her ailing child, all while desperately trying to enjoy her own youthful needs. We never think ill of Asia, and Yiv brings her completely and three-dimensionally alive. Shira Haas, well-kown for the TV miniseries ‘Unorthodox’ comes across as defiant in the face of a physically debilitating disease, yet accepting her shortened life with dignity and struggling to live every second that goes by whether it’s giggling with her mother, or watching a movie with the visiting nurse she’s attracted to. Yiv and Haas convey their loving bond so clearly with a glance, or a movement, and as the inevitable conclusion draws hear, it’s just beautiful. 4 1/2 cats”