I saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival, with director Q+A, so I could more understand this film. It is based on an old rock opera, but the director changed the music from western to traditional - an artistic choice that, however, helped keep the mood downbeat, especially since the music was the key to the film. There is a (singing) narrator, and musicians were hired to perform, rather than actors hired to sing.
The story, and the production, is timeless, given that Israel is in a state of perpetual war, and soldiers with injuries are not uncommon. However, when Mami takes her husband out of hospital and tries to make it in Tel Aviv, she suffers a series of misadventures that lead to a transformation. While this seems to be a fantasy, logic rules don't apply, as the vegetative-state soldier gets to sing songs too.
Rather than use the original title of Mami, the director retitled it Red Fields, a reference to bloody battlefields. The confusing part is that I thought the film was pro-war, when the director's intent was to be anti-war.
The story, and the production, is timeless, given that Israel is in a state of perpetual war, and soldiers with injuries are not uncommon. However, when Mami takes her husband out of hospital and tries to make it in Tel Aviv, she suffers a series of misadventures that lead to a transformation. While this seems to be a fantasy, logic rules don't apply, as the vegetative-state soldier gets to sing songs too.
Rather than use the original title of Mami, the director retitled it Red Fields, a reference to bloody battlefields. The confusing part is that I thought the film was pro-war, when the director's intent was to be anti-war.
