Antarctica (2008) User Reviews

Mediocre at best

[nolketessa · 5/10 · 8 July 2010]

I had pretty high expectations of this movie after reading a very short synopsis; I really like ensemble movies and 'Antarctica' being a gay movie and from Israel added to the attraction (I see a lot of Hollywood movies as well). I came out pretty disappointed.

There was very little story in this and hardly any substance. I found it rather shallow while the premise was full of possibilities for an engrossing film. There is great potential in ensemble movies but only when a director and/or a writer know what to do with it… clearly in this case there could have been much more of a plot if the writer had left out a couple of characters and had focused on the remaining ones for some depth and background.

I am somebody who enjoys striking images - by which I do not mean pictures of sunsets and lavish homes, but images that, whether they are pretty of ugly, enhance the story - but there was no beauty at all to be found in this movie. I am not referring to the cast because some of them were actually rather handsome, but the sets: apartments, kitchens, streets, surroundings… nothing spoke to me. It looked like nobody had been hired for cinematography. Now I am aware of the budget factor but there is a big gap between lush Hollywood sets and cramped TL-lit spaces. From where I was sitting a little more attention to imagery would not have distracted from the story; it would probably have enhanced it.

But the one thing I could not get over was the casting of the character 'Omer's Mother'. This person was so ridiculously out of place that it hurt. I sincerely wonder what the deal was here because I cannot believe that any casting director who takes themselves seriously would voluntarily cast this character the way it was done, destroying any credibility the movie had to begin with.

'Antarctica' in my view is mediocre at best, I give it 5 out of 10.

A decent watch. I am surprised no one commented on it here

[itsvivek4u · 6/10 · 14 July 2008]

I just saw this film in the Philadelphia gay and lesbian film festival. I thought it was a pretty decent movie.

The film starts with a guy bringing different men every night in his apartment. Every man has shown to be with some peculiar features. After first five minutes the film moves 3 years and starts showing life of few people in the city of Tel Aviv some of whom eventually turn out to be men whom this character sleeps with. Omer, a young guy soon to turn 30 works as a librarian and is looking for his love. He meets Danny for a blind date which goes well but he thinks that Danny is too young for him. Danny lives with Ronen, his ex-boyfriend who is a journalist and often visits the library. Omer and Ronen have noticed each other. Then we have Shirley, Omer's little sister. Aside from being Omer's greatest annoyance, she is in an unconventional relationship with, Michal, owner of the city's hippest coffeehouse and her boss. She breaks u her wedding with Michal at the last moment because she wants to travel the world specially Antarctica. Omer's best friend goes on a date with Ronen and have god time and sex. One day in library Ronen invite Omer to go with him to a meeting They realize that they have lots in common with each other but cant do anything about it. Finally the day comes when Omer's mother invites Omer, Shirley, Michal and Omer's friend for his birthday. His friend invites along Ronen and thats where Omer and Ronen realize that they are meant for each other. There are some side stories about Danny, his 3 year old hook up and now his dance instructor and about a crazy writer who believes that aliens talk to her. The film ends with how some people win their love and how some people are just left alone.

The performances in the film were really good. I thought it was something different but the only problem was there were too many characters and their relationship with each other became confusing after a certain point. Ronen was very hot looking and Omer was like the boy next door. I thought he was cute to. The film was with good production values. Its hard to point any flaws in the movie but at the same time it did not make me clap for it.

Another time, another day, I might watch it again.

Needs ruthless editing

[hitmouse · 4/10 · 1 March 2009]

(minor spoilers) The director needs to work out what story he wants to tell and concentrate on that, neither hammering too hard on that story nor rushing off into side-stories all the time.

Some of the relationships (the journalist and the clothing-shop boy) were just unbelievable, and actions by certain characters were rather random in the story (such as when the young dancer attempts to visit his old boyfriend the choreographer with flowers).

A number of sequences just went on far too long (the opening, the café singers, and the alien-abduction conversations). I just got bored and I could feel the same restlessness across the audience at the screening I attended.

The acting was fine, but the film was let down by the unfocused direction and slack editing.

Needs Serious Editing and Better Focus

[harryjohnson2008 · 1/10 · 20 June 2014]

Oy Vay, where to begin with this one...... first of all, the movie starts out somewhat interesting. It focuses on a guy who has a seemingly endless stream of one night stands, and it seems like the movie is going to be about him. Then there is a shift to "three years later" and the entire focus of the movie shifts to another character (Omer). I had to stop the movie and back up to see if I missed something. I didn't. This was just very poor focus by the director. The rest of the movie focuses on a group of characters and Omer seems to be the main focus, but the lines are actually pretty blurred.

As others pointed out in their reviews, there were scenes that were WAY too long and needed to be cut (I got very bored) and other scenes that were way too short and should have been expanded on and focused on more. And the whole thing with the alien abduction focus.....WTF? I don't see how that had anything to do with the story.

The funniest part of all of this is the movie's tag line that says "One of the steamiest movies of the year". The first 20 minutes was fairly steamy, before the focus shifted to "three years later". After that, it was damp at best (but not steamy). I can't recommend this one, unless you are SO bored that you have to watch something. And then when you end up totally disappointed, just remember, I warned you.

Tomer Ilan (as Omer) saves the day

[David_Alexander_L · 8/10 · 3 April 2009]

In 'Antarctica', director Yair Hochner tries to create a film in the same style Milos Forman used many times: an array of characters, seem to be unconnected; and then towards the end of the film they all come together somehow.

Well, Films like that can be very good if you direct them with refinement and intelligence; and you have a great script and cast to match.

This can only partially be said on 'Antarctica'. It is in a way interesting to watch the behaviour of young gay men & women in a country like Israel; We do not see much of that. But then you find they sort of behave in the same way as they would in another western country; This story could have taken place in Rome or Madrid or Amsterdam. Apart from the fact the characters spoke Hebrew, I could not find any special Israeli angle that would make this feature worth seeing even more.

So we are left with just the story proper.

I do tend to agree some scenes were too long - the bar scenes for example - and some too short. Some characters were developed more then others; and only towards half way you actually discover who in fact is the lead character..which I found puzzling.

I would have preferred the film concentrating on Omer (the lead) as for me he was the most intriguing character, and less on his sister for example; or the guy from the first act in the film, which eventually had very little to do with the plot, except the fact most male characters went through his bed. And for the life of me I could not understand why they used a man to portray Omer's mom?

But this film is still worth watching if only to discover the lead actor, Tomer Ilan. This young man had obviously a lot of talent; he sparkles intelligence and that even makes him more good looking then he already is. Great actor casting, and I hope we will see more of him.

The rest of the cast is quite good, although they was no need for brilliant acting in this film.

To summarise: great little film to watch on your DVD player on a cold evening off.

8 of 10 from me.

a juvenile, conceited disaster

[sandover · 9 March 2010]

The film begins with a serial depiction of pick-ups by one of the film's characters, that appears promising - then, oh no, the character cries in the shower: the emptiness of his life, we gather, and also that the film is fishy.

One bold leap three years ahead.

Dear director, do not attempt such things if you have not foregrounded a story, however elliptic.

Actually there is no story, just amateurish shots of characters that confuse our endeavors to figure what happens, why this one appears, if it is central or peripheral to what is going on, then a female character appears played by a male actor, and the film by that point becomes "inferential" at best: we "infer" that this "transvestitism" is an Almodovar-like take; that the film shows the givings and misgivings of destiny in a group of people that meet, or fail to do so, in the end; we "infer" that the "alien thing" is comic, and stands for tenderness in the very end.

But the transvestitism is actually a travesty: a travesty for comedy, for relief, for enacting any sense of locality; the "alien thing" not only fails to engage in locality as well, but actually forecloses any sense of geographical specificity, and becomes a psychotic symptom for avoiding to do so (another film from Israel, that met with critical success, "The Bubble" engaged in the specificity of time and place, though it presented a nihilistic political point of view that, combined with its cinematic tendentiousness, turned it into hypocrisy).

It is a sad, expansive phenomenon that such uninformed sense of engagement masquerades as a kind of hurt sensibility, and a plea for sentimental and spiritual gathering of souls, a plea for love beyond our shortcomings, be them racial, sexual, ethnic ones. The film reads like a juvenile attempt at themes it fails to attack: what it means to be lonely and insecure and crave for it or be well-poised etc. but all this is to "infer"; let alone the preposterous thing going on between the journalist and the salesman: a journalist that has a humane streak falling for a gossipy, cliché-carved little nelly? There is no plausibility concerning the hovering, changing sentiments and this is so severe that comes off depressively and in the end, with the actually mad closure, pathologically I dare say.

Or,the three years leap is slumped on us for signaling the older dancer's reawakening of feelings for the young dancer? For the story we did not see in the beginning? That, OK, could be evolved in a later part of the film for bigger dramatic effect, but for what? So that we learn they passed three weeks together? This is the kind of thing the late Quentin Crisp serenely and acerbically mocked as three weeks of "meaningful relationship". This must also be the writer/director's sense of meaningful film-making.

Oy Vey! Such a Shundah!

[Coralknight · 2/10 · 20 October 2017]

Unclear as to why Israel has such a repertoire of gay films, but they all seem to have one thing in common: a very conceited, shallow, self-centered protagonist. In this case, the writer attempts to have the hedonistic protagonist come off as having a "heart" or soft-spot, when he allows an old "fling" (who was apparently the first guy the young lad had ever hooked up with) stay with him. The dialogue is pretty meaningless, but as they say in Hebrew, "it sounds funnier in Yiddish". But mostly, the film is just a bunch of blurry fast-paced sex-scenes with hairy Jewish men. If that's your thing, then this is the film for you.

Entertaining and sympathetic (if you can ignore mama-dearest!)

[johannes2000-1 · 8/10 · 9 August 2012]

In spite of the more negative reports here, I was rather pleased with this movie.

To begin with: it has a sympathetic and genuine feel about it and the script is (for the most part) intelligent and amusing, with all these meandering story-lines that intertwine and in the end more or less come together. All characters get proper screen-time, so you gradually learn enough of their backgrounds and personalities to make you care for them.

The acting is over-all pretty good: apart from the strange mother-impersonator (it seemed totally unnecessary to use a transvestite for that) everyone else acts very natural. Some of them stand out a bit more, like the promiscuous dance-teacher or the guy that plays Mickey and is actually very funny. Tomer Ilan is very convincing as cute Omer, exasperated by his overwhelming mother and frustrated by his marginal love-life. I also liked the musical score, it's linked with a few live performances in the bar where all the characters sooner or later meet. In a very subtle, almost coincidental way the director blends lines of the (English) lyrics with specific goings-on in the movie.

Sure, there are some flaws. The abrupt 3-year time-leap in the very beginning didn't seem to have any function and was rather confusing. At times the abundance of characters was a bit confusing too, since some of them look a bit alike and also have names that in Hebrew sound alike (like Ronen or Omer). And some of the many story-lines didn't seem necessary for the movie at all, like the woman with the alien-obsession. The final scene (again the alien-thing, now in an almost "Close Encounters"-like setting) was cinematographically beautiful, but felt a bit like a loose pebble (or maybe I missed the metaphor in this). And is Israel today really such a paradise for gay people? Where lovers can walk hand in hand in public and kiss on the sidewalks? Where all the mothers are competing with each other in gay matchmaking?? I thought that Holland was gay-liberated, but this beats all: I want to move there!!

After viewing the movie I kept wondering what the message of the maker could be. Most characters end up with some kind of love(r) and in view of the title it seems to suggest that everyone can reach at his or her goal, however surreal or far-fetched this at times may seem. But on the other hand there are also characters who in the end stay empty-handed, like Mickey, or seem to go for a surrogate-love, like Danny. So no happy ending for all, and after the movie you're left with a smile mingled with a touch of sadness. Well, maybe there isn't a real message. It's just life.

Beautiful

[donaldsmedley · 10/10 · 24 September 2009]

Life is full of metaphors and this is a great interpretation. A romantic tale, a love of fantasy and could have beens............... I really enjoyed this movie. It was engaging and had me hooked from the start. It was hot and the mirrors started to steam as i was introduced to the characters, satisfied with the pornesque start i didn't much care for content. The shots and the arrangement of images would have satisfied me for the entirety of the movie. But little did i know that i was just watching the caterpillar before the butterfly. The process is the movie. Well done to the director and the actors to a collage of beauty. "No matter how big the world is from a village to a city of millions you live within the same shell with the same circumference."

finding love can be real difficult

[anshul2001anshul · 10/10 · 4 August 2011]

if one forgets for a moment that love relationships shown in the movies are homosexual and not heterosexual, it is a simple film about people trying to find love and till they find one keep on trying. There is central character who is librarian and group of his friends and similar individuals they come across.in all there are 5 main male character and they are developed well given the time constraint, especially the journalist, librarian, the young boy and the Casanova. sub plot of hero's sister also being lesbian or their father being cross dresser seems unnecessary. there are comic moments though when their mother gets a new husband or one of the the character who works at a fashion store cracks jokes. Overall a good movie about love, commitment and relationship

one of the few best gay films.

[Hunky Stud · 9/10 · 28 April 2013]

i always enjoy watching foreign films, it is fascinating to watch people in other countries live and love.

i think that this gay film is one of the best. i saw the unrated version, so at the beginning, it felt like a hot gay porn. three years later, the film returned to "normal." unlike some other gay films with weak stories, bad actors, etc, this film has an riveting storyline, and good actors. it seems that the male actors are all gay, i wonder if they are gays in real life. because there were not afraid of doing any male to male actions.

and i have never watched a gay film from israel before, very fascinating. i truly enjoyed it. so i rated it a 9.

Riddle Wrapped In An Enigma

[donwc1996 · 10/10 · 9 September 2014]

This film is a blast and sexy as all get out. The guys are just plain hot and the story is hilarious with the mother played by a man being the most absurd. The director obviously just wanted to have fun but at the same time he cast a bunch of hunks all of whom have nothing better to do than sleep together which makes for some steamy scenes. There were so many hunks naked that it was hard to keep track of them but eventually everyone found his place with his partner to create a satisfactory conclusion. The ending is very abstract and you have to ask yourself if what is happening is really happening but then again the entire film is so surreal that it is difficult to determine exactly what is going on. I can certainly see why some people would hate this film but it was so funny you just can't help but like it and the hunks more than make up for any holes in the script - and there are lots of holes.