crosslit-34001 The female heart is shared through four, perhaps five female roles, and a token male. I say token because, perhaps like in the lives of all women as they compete with one another yet strive mutually for acceptance, men can often be little more than an accessory. Here the hopes, pains, and disappointments of wives, mothers, daughters, and career women are shared in a very poetic and imaginative way. Wonderful cinemoatography. The use of setting is especially effective.

lolwme I just saw this movie on Sundance Channel. Maybe my opinion is unique, but I think this movie is about how we all experience and deal with abandonment in life. Batia, abandoned by her parents from childhood, has in effect even abandoned herself. She sees herself in the mystery child, alone and unable to communicate. When the child disappears, did the child abandon her or did she abandon the child by yelling? As she grapples with the dilemma, she faces her own childhood disappointment which she describes to a friend in the memory of an ice cream man on the beach. In the poignant scene Batia says, "They promised he'd come back." The friend reassures, "Don't worry, he's always around." I think in the end, her friend and the child help Batia to heal and finally feel secure about drifting through the great sea of life.In the second story, will the bride and groom abandon one another when marriage, like their tiny hotel room, is uncomfortable and feels confining, or will they learn to expand in their appreciation for one another and grow even closer? I disagree with the GOOFS section because of what must have been said in the unseen part of the story where Keren explains on why they must go downstairs. I think he knew full well when the handwriting changed because at that point he handed over the paper as he acknowledges there is more to his new wife than he realized. Together they gaze at the sea contemplating.Lastly, Joy watches as parents are abandoned by children and children abandon their parents. All she can think of is crossing the ocean to get back to her little boy.I loved this movie! Maybe I healed a little bit in watching it.

slugdub Not quite sure how to describe this movie other than it captures the daily frustrations of Israeli life and the mystery that can befuddle anyone in their daily life, young or old.All movies normally have a bit of glass between the viewer and the actors/actresses. This movie seems to dissolve that. A very strange phenomenon. But you feel more connected to the people on the screen. Like they are right before you. The only exception would be those moments that seem like dream sequences, but are all too real... or rather surreal.I started out watching this movie to pick up a little bit of hebrew and soak up some of the sights of Tel Aviv. I am happy that I did. The scenes are very accurate. I especially liked one scene involving a taxi driver, a cat and some other key details that will amuse anyone who has spent time in Israel.I got much more from this and plan to bring this movie to my parents house for mother's day. I hope they will enjoy it as much as I did.

Ari Herzog Nikol Leidman is spectacular. Near the beginning of Meduzot, she plays a 5-year-old girl who walks out of the Mediterranean Sea onto a Tel Aviv beach wearing a flotation device around her waist. She may as well be naked. She doesn't speak but her wide-open and captivating eyes convey all that needs to be said.The girl befriends Batia, a 20-something woman with family problems, a job she hates, and a forgotten past. Social rules don't apply to Batia and the girl, as even the police don't place missing children on their list of priorities.One day, Batia literally runs into Joy, a Filipino woman who speaks English but is learning Hebrew while freelancing as a caregiver. Joy tries to help Malka recover from a hospital stay but Malka appears mean but that's only because of her relationship with her daughter. Nothing's what it seems.The hospital where Malka stayed is also where Keren was treated after she slammed her leg into the bathroom floor when trying to climb over a locked toilet stall on her wedding night. She and her new husband Michael stay at the famous Dan Hotel but the only beach-facing suite is taken by a mysterious woman who is writing a novel. Or is she? Walking out of the movie theater, I thought a lot about Meduzot and the translucent nature of jellyfish. The husband-and-wife filmmakers could have provided extra footage and explained more connections between the characters and put questions to rest with who the girl from the sea really is, but why spoil anything? I liked it fine the way it was.