Nina's Tragedies (2003)

61% of critics liked it
(31 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(562 ratings)

Israeli filmmaker Savi Gabizon directs the tragi-comic drama Ha-Asonot Shel Nina, also released as Nina's Tragedies (A Very Sad Comedy). Teenaged boy Nadav (Aviv Elkabeth) is secretly in love with his beautiful Aunt Nina (Ayelet Zurer). When her husband dies and his parents get divorced, Nadav is… More Israeli filmmaker Savi Gabizon directs the tragi-comic drama Ha-Asonot Shel Nina, also released as Nina's Tragedies (A Very Sad Comedy). Teenaged boy Nadav (Aviv Elkabeth) is secretly in love with his beautiful Aunt Nina (Ayelet Zurer). When her husband dies and his parents get divorced, Nadav is more than willing to go live with her. However, many strange things start to happen just after he arrives. Nadav's estranged father (Yoram Hattab) suddenly wants to reconnect with him after many years. Also, the mourning Nina is pursued by a photographer named Avinoam (Alon Aboutbul). Nina's Tragedies won several awards at the Jerusalem Film Festival before its U.S. premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Savi Gavison
Written By: Savi Gabizon
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 25, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Sep 13, 2005
Studio: Wellspring

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle
The dry humor is disarming. The ensemble cast is engaging and interesting to watch. And the main plot, as it were (will Nadav and Nina find respective happiness?), is suspenseful.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
A gently quirky, touching comedy from Israel about a young boy's infatuation with his aunt.
Achy Obejas, Chicago Tribune
Nina's Tragedies is full of gentle, labyrinthian turns, sly and sweet.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Engagingly odd and full of sad, funny moments.
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
It's well acted, and well written, but it rarely delivers the emotional resonance you keep expecting.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
The chief problem with this exasperating and shamelessly contrived award-winning Israeli movie: It doesn't know when to stop telling and start showing.
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
A dark, morose, confusing hodgepodge of uninteresting and unbelievable characters.
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Ayelet Zorer gives Nina grace, sexiness and a real personality. She's someone you'd want to see a movie about, though maybe you'd wish the movie were a little more polished than this one.
Marc Mohan, Oregonian
Israeli society is one that has ample experience processing grief, and Nina's Tragedies explores that challenge with humanity and humor.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Passing eccentricities of character, but serious trouble staging honest and coherent emotional scenes....a surplus of preciousness and a deficit of truth-ringing reality.
Arthur Lazere, culturevulture.net
The comedy is feather-light and the emotions are drawn on situation, rather than on genuine involvement with substantively developed characters.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A humorous warts-and-all portrayal of a family.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Gavison's whimsical and melancholy tragicomedy keeps the Israeli-Arab conflict in the background.
Sono Motoyama, Philadelphia Daily News
A richly evoked family drama.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
A sad little comedy with enough surprises to keep the viewer guessing, and fine performances by all.
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
A film about the whole panoply of life and love and death, blah blah blah.
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com
You want to get caught up in Nadav's world and ride his emotional roller coaster, but the movie keeps you at a distance (like watching through a window).

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Mark A

Nina's Tragedies is a well-done serio-comical look at a young boy growing up in the midst of chaos. The one constant in Nadav's (Aviv Elkabeth) life is his puppy-love for his aunt, Nina (Ayelet Zurer). His father moved out, his mother entertains a string of lovers, and he… More
Nina's Tragedies is a well-done serio-comical look at a young boy growing up in the midst of chaos. The one constant in Nadav's (Aviv Elkabeth) life is his puppy-love for his aunt, Nina (Ayelet Zurer). His father moved out, his mother entertains a string of lovers, and he gets his fondest wish when the woman of his dreams needs someone to help her deal with the sudden death of her husband. The cast is terrific, and the comedy is low-key while dealing with some serious issues of love and trust and abandonment. The pace is slow, to the point of almost losing momentum altogether, but picks up again before complete paralysis takes over. This would have benefited from a slightly firmer hand in the editing room, but was still quite entertaining.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic][color=teal]"Nina's Tragedies" is a movie from Israel that starts out with a funeral, It then goes back two days when Nadav's uncle is reading his journal which he had lost some days before. The movie is told from teenage Nadav's… More
[font=Century Gothic][color=teal]"Nina's Tragedies" is a movie from Israel that starts out with a funeral, It then goes back two days when Nadav's uncle is reading his journal which he had lost some days before. The movie is told from teenage Nadav's viewpoint, through his journal, as he observes what goes on in his family's life, especially his young aunt, Nina, who has just become a widow. Nadav is a Peeping Tom(I haven't seen it but did "Brighton Beach Memoirs" have a teenage character whose main goal in life was to see a naked woman while eating ice cream?). It's even more disturbing and creepy when you consider that his partner in crime is a middle-aged man. What's his story?[/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#008080][/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#008080]There is nothing in "Nina's Tragedies" that we have not seen before. (Especially when you compare it to last year's "Broken Wings", also from Israel.) The framing device takes over a movie that should be about the grieving process of the title character. The most memorable parts of the movie involve such tiny details as a wobbly wheel and tracheotomy patients. This is a movie that wants to come to a tidy conclusion for all of its characters. On the plus side, Ayelet Zurer, as the eponymous lead character, is very good. [/color][/font] [font=Century Gothic][color=#008080][/color][/font]