Forgiveness (2006)

30% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(122 ratings)

A 20-year-old American Israeli decides to move back to Israel and reconnect with his roots, only to be institutionalized in a mental-health facility constructed on the grounds of a Palestinian village that was massacred by a Jewish militia back in 1948. David Adler (Itay Tiran) has moved back to… More A 20-year-old American Israeli decides to move back to Israel and reconnect with his roots, only to be institutionalized in a mental-health facility constructed on the grounds of a Palestinian village that was massacred by a Jewish militia back in 1948. David Adler (Itay Tiran) has moved back to Israel, but the joy of his homecoming is short-lived when he is committed to a mental institution and injected with a chemo-technological drug at the behest of his father -- a Holocaust survivor and famous musician. Later, blind mental patient Muselmann, who serves as a conduit between the worlds of the living and the dead, implores the troubled David to listen to the ghosts that have long been rumored to dwell in the hospital corridors. It seems that the spirit of a ten-year-old girl holds the secret to a riddle that could bring an end to the continual cycle of violence that sweeps their land, but only when she finds eternal rest will that secret finally be revealed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Udi Aloni
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Feb 11, 2006 Wide
Studio: International Film Circuit

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
The result is a hodgepodge of plots and styles, a fault compounded by stiff acting and, except for a few scenes, wooden direction.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
The message may be clear -- suppress the past at your peril -- but the execution is a mess.
Michelle Orange, Village Voice
David's trauma, madness, and recovery is arranged as a puzzle of dreams, flashbacks, hallucinations, and strikingly choreographed numbers that, while occasionally dazzling, remains in pieces at film's end.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
While the subject of this Israeli feature is riveting and the intention honorable, the narrative strategy and technical execution leave much to be desired.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Builds on real macabre coincidences to pile on symbolism higher and higher in time-tripping phantasmagoria of flashbacks, nightmares,fantasy and occasional credibility.
Matt Noller, Slant Magazine
Isn't it time to accept that narrative film may not be the best way to deal with complicated socio-political issues like the Israel-Palestine conflict?
Sara Maria Vizcarrondo, Boxoffice Magazine
The film's laudable attempts to encompass the far-reaching quagmire of Jewish tribal identity, politics and psychology could have a profound effect on the audiences who do find it.
Tasha Robinson, AV Club
Forgiveness feels like a high-concept stage play, the kind of well-meant but pretentious project where grand themes are worked out in a claustrophobic setting among a small cast.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
Its originality is stunted by a hodgepodge of pretentious scenes.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
A metaphorical Israeli trauma sanctuary built over a massacred Palestinian village, and a raw yet mystical inquiry into the thin line between war and murder, and how combat multiples rather than eradicates enemies. Jewish guilt, Israeli style.