Avi Nesher’s latest movie, The Monkey House, which opened throughout Israel on Thursday (and which will be shown in the Masters Section of the Haifa International Film Festival), is a delightful, sophisticated mixture of a literary mystery, a witty comedy, and the moving character study of two lost souls who make a connection. It’s the perfect movie for these troubled times, both funny and thought-provoking, with an unpredictability that will keep you in suspense.
The central figure in the movie is a forgotten novelist played by Adir Miller, who demonstrates again that while he is known for being Israel’s most popular standup comedian, he has soul and depth in dramatic parts. This is the fourth time he has acted in one of Nesher’s movies and his performance rivals his Ophir Award-winning turn as the mysterious Holocaust survivor in the 2010 film, The Matchmaker.
Set in the 1980s, The Monkey House features Miller as Amitay Kariv, whose books were a hit 20 years ago but which are now out of print. He lives near the abandoned monkey park from which the movie gets its name and, surrounded by piles of unsold books from his glory days, ekes out a living writing pulp fiction, consumed with envy at the success of his more celebrated colleagues. A former kibbutznik, Amitay pines for Tamar (Shani Cohen), whom he has loved since they were children, but who married another, more impressive man. After her husband dies, he realizes he has a chance to win her back, and the only way he can think of to do that is by burnishing his faded literary reputation. But that seems like an impossible task since his name is nothing more than a punchline to the few who remember it.
But then Amitay gets an idea for how to reinvent himself and it involves hiring a serious young woman. After he interviews a few pallid literature students, he meets Margo (Suzanna Papian), who is the antithesis of the cultural and literary world that means everything to him. She never reads and has a vague plan to go to Hollywood and become a star. In one of the movie’s funniest scenes, she bluffs her way through an interview in which she answers the way she imagines a literary scholar would. But Amitay has figured out that what he needs is actually an actress who thinks for herself and knows how to make an impression, not a grad student with literary aspirations.
What Margo needs, although she doesn’t realize it, is to start taking herself seriously. In a sequence reminiscent of a famous scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo in which James Stewart has Kim Novak made over to look like a woman he loved, Amitay oversees Margo’s transformation into a sober-looking literary researcher. And, as she learns to walk the walk, she starts to see all the ways in which she has been lying to herself.
Tamar is drawn back into Amitay’s life, and being near her makes him reexamine his own life and choices. At the same time, another character is added to the mix, Amir (Ala Dakka), an Israeli living in Italy who is making a documentary about Israeli writers. When he and Margo meet there is an immediate click between them.
A complicated film based on a true story
And then the story really gets complicated. Nesher, introducing the movie before the screening where I saw it, said he believes that the best stories are based on reality and that The Monkey House is based on a true story, although he declined to reveal which writer’s life inspired it.
The story plays out in unexpected ways, anchored by dazzling performances by the leads. Miller is convincing as a man who has spent his life blaming others when he is his worst enemy. Amitay is a very familiar type in literary circles, but even if you don’t know any writers, you have met people like him and you may recognize a little bit of him in yourself.
Papian, an actress who is currently appearing in the Kan series, Sovietzka, becomes a star in her first leading movie role. It’s something of a tradition for Nesher to anoint new actresses in his movies: Neta Garty, Liraz Charchi, Ania Bukstein, and Joy Rieger, who are now among Israel’s top leading ladies, were all more or less unknown until Nesher cast them in some of his previous films. Now it’s Papian’s turn to take center stage and she is perfect as both the bimbo and the brainy student she impersonates, with presence and comic timing that is reminiscent of such screen greats as Judy Holliday and Irene Dunne.
Nesher has often used standups such as Miller in his movies and Cohen, best known as an ensemble member on the comedy show, Eretz Nehederet, gives a strong, sexy performance as his lost love, Tamar. You can believe a man would be obsessed with her for decades. A number of other members of the Eretz Nehederet cast and well-known comedians appear in the movie, among them Eran Zarahovitsh and Yaniv Biton (Tel Aviv on Fire). Dakka, who appeared in Nesher’s last film, Image of Victory, as well as Fauda, is very appealing as a sexy nerd.
In an unusual move, Universal chose to finance the movie’s soundtrack, which it will also release on its label. The score is by Avner Dorman, one of Israel’s most acclaimed classical composers, and it also features 80s pop tunes and Arabic folk-rock. The cinematography by Ziv Berkovich emphasizes the contrast between shadows and brightness that is at the heart of the story.
Nesher, one of Israel’s leading filmmakers, started his career with the classic, The Troupe (Ha Lahaka), in the late 70s, and is still doing work that ranks among his best. That’s saying something when his movies include Turn Left at the End of the World and The Matchmaker. The Monkey House has been purchased for international distribution by the Italian company, Fandango, and I imagine audiences around the world will enjoy it as much as Israelis.
Like all of Nesher’s movies, The Monkey House examines aspects of Israeli life that have a universal appeal.