| Past Life | |||||
| Native Name: |
| ||||
| Director: | Avi Nesher | ||||
| Producer: | Ruth Cats Leon Edery Moshe Edery David M. Milch Elad Naggar Avi Nesher David Silber | ||||
| Screenplay: | Avi Nesher | ||||
| Starring: | Nelly Tagar Joy Rieger | ||||
| Music: | Cyrille Aufort Avner Dorman Ella Milch-Sheriff | ||||
| Cinematography: | Michel Abramowicz | ||||
| Editing: | Isaac Sehayek | ||||
| Studio: | Metro Communications Artomas Communications Ars Veritas Productions Sunshine Films | ||||
| Distributor: | Orion Pictures[1] Samuel Goldwyn Films[2] | ||||
| Runtime: | 109 minutes | ||||
| Country: | Israel | ||||
| Language: | Hebrew English | ||||
Past Life (Hebrew: החטאים) is a 2016 Israeli drama film written and directed by Avi Nesher and starring Nelly Tagar and Joy Rieger.[3] [4] It is based on Baruch Milch's memoir Can Heaven Be Void?[5] The film is the first of Nesher's planned trilogy.[6]
Two Israeli sisters, one a classical music composer and singer, and the other a budding journalist, try to find out what their father did during World War II in Poland, after a Polish woman runs up to one of them in a Berlin concert venue and calls her the daughter of a murderer.
The film has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[7] Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com awarded Past Life three stars.[8] Joseph Friar of The Victoria Advocate also gave Past Life three stars.[9] Peter Goldberg of Slant Magazine gave Past Life two and a half stars out of four.[10] Bruce Demara of the Toronto Star awarded the film three stars out of four.[11] Gayle MacDonald of The Globe and Mail gave the film two stars out of four.[12] Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic awarded it two and a half stars out of five.[13] Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post gave it two stars out of four.[14]
Diane Carlson of KDHX praised the performances of Tagar and Rieger writing that they "present their characters' contrasting personalities beautifully, sparring like real sisters."[15] Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post also praised Tagar and Rieger: "All the actors do extraordinary work, but the standouts are Rieger and Tagar in the lead roles."[16] Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times wrote a positive review, describing the film as "a page-turner that transforms into a clarion call: always compelling, but slightly stifled by noble intentions."[17] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote a positive review: "Uneven but ultimately effective, convincing in mood and emotion despite its melodramatic plotting, Avi Nesher's Past Life is straight-ahead filmmaking heightened by a connection to a pervasive Israeli reality not often found on film."[18] Susan G. Cole of Now gave it a positive review and wrote "this is first-rate filmmaking, and the cast, especially Tagar, prickly yet tender, is very good."[19] Allan Hunter of Screen Daily gave the film a positive review and wrote "The initial set-up of Past Life feels clunky, but once we are back in Israel and the sisters reluctantly confront their dour, domineering father Baruch it settles into a more confident, convincing phase."[20] Alissa Simon of Variety also gave it a positive review, calling it "profoundly moving".[21]