"Blues for the Big Vacation" follows 7 teens during a pivotal time between exams and IDF recruitment in 1970. They navigate identity, dreams, and activism amidst the backdrop of war. Key figures are Yossi, Arle, Musi, and Margo.
A group of close friends celebrate the bittersweet changes coming to their lives during the summer of their high-school graduation: adult responsibilities, adult romance -- and the soberingly adult fact that some of their number are being drafted into the Israeli army. This has very much the feel of a high-school beach-party movie -- with music, and in Hebrew -- until a sudden and disturbingly realistic reminder of their own mortality finally slashes through the kids' cheerful, close-knit obliviousness.—Susannah R Mandel