Israel is a country with conscription: mandatory military service. All Israeli citizens over 18 must serve in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – two years for women & three years for men. A lot of Israeli films have emerged in the past decade or so that showcases slice of life within an army base. It has tackled the drudgery, disheartening battles and incredible sacrifices. But, rarely a film comes to terms with the boredom that’s experienced by people working on administrative lines of an army. Robert Alrman’s “M*A*S*H” (1970) portrayed a remote military unit that’s trying to eradicate their tedious existence by inventing abusrdist internal rules and sharply funny pranks. Joseph Heller’s satirical novel “Catch 22” (and the move adaptation) was also about group of men trying to survive through the madness & boredom of warfare.
Tayla Lavie’s “Zero Motivation” (2014) is constructed with
the similar kind of nonsensical vignettes, but the twist here is that it
focuses on a group of paper-pushing female sergeants in an Israeli army base,
situated amidst a desert. The film juxtaposes breezy comedy with unsettling
themes, which at times doesn’t perfectly undergo the tonal shifts, but the
deadpan drollery and largely unpredictable narrative bestows an engaging movie
experience. Set in 2004, “Zero Motivation” opens with a chapter named “The
Replacement”, which introduces us two best friends Zohar (Dana Ivgy) and Daffi
(Nelly Tagar) waiting for the bus to get to the isolated military post. Both
the girls hate to work inside the human resource offices of the army base.
Daffi, whose designation called as paper-shredding sergeant, is very desperate
to get out of the desert post. She has written a series of letters to even the 'Chief of General Staff' for a transfer order to the metropolitan city, Tel Aviv.
On the way to base, after the weekend leave, Zohar and Daffi
find a new girl in the military outfit. Daffi takes the girl named Tehila
(Yonit Tobi) with her and jumps to a conclusion that Tehila is the replacement.
Daffi introduces the girl to the frustrated superior Rama (Shani Klein) and
gives a tour through the clogged up office and its cabinets. She shows how to
perfectly shred a paper and describes staple gun as ‘the most precious thing in
the office’. Zohar is busy clearing the virtual landmines in the computer game ‘Minesweeper’.
Other members of the office include an easily-annoyed Russian expat Irena
(Tamara Klingon) and a couple of cool, personality-less girls: Livnat and Liat.
The girls’ primary jobs are to serve coffee at meetings and write boring
reports. The girls may not have engaged in bloodcurdling battles, but blood
does find its way to the foot of their bunk beds. The later two chapters “Virgin”
and “The Commander” tracks the increasingly dysfunctional lives of Zohar and
Nelly as friendships fall out and loneliness creeps in.
Spoilers Ahead
“Zero Motivation” does explore grim themes, but director
Lavie imbues enough deadpan humor that perfectly underlines helplessness of the
characters’ situation. Zohar (who grew up on a kibbutz) is characterized very
well. Her awkward flirtation with a soldier during her mission to lose
virginity, her obsession with minesweeper records and increasing morose
behavior are etched out in an engaging manner. The friendship between Zohar and
Daffi reminisces of Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World” (2001). Lavie starts each chapter with an optimistic
note and gradually descends with a dark twists. The dark comedy gets darker at
times, especially with an attempted rape scene, followed with trashcan-humping
and a bloody staple gun fight in the end. These distinct dark twists along with
the casual depiction of female-centric environment are the best of Lavie’s
directorial impulses.
The movie’s flaw, however, lies with a script that isn’t thematically
coherent and its comedic bite fizzles out as the narrative progresses. Director
Tayla Lavie, in an interview, states how she was inspired by movies like “Pulp
Fiction”. But, “Zero Motivation” doesn’t firmly forge a connection between
vignettes as Tarantino and Altman did in their superior darkly humorous tales. At times,
the film gives a feeling as if we are watching an anthology. Of course there
are some wonderful moments in the narrative: like top army men telling gay
jokes in a meeting as the lone female colleague working on how to react; an
illogical but a great act of revenge by Zohar against bureaucratic nonsense;
Irena’s encounter with the ghost etc. But, the triptych never possesses that
casual or logical connection.
At one scene, we see Daffi in the city military base, day-dreaming
her romanticized view of Tel Aviv. We understand that Daffi isn’t doing well despite
getting transferred to the city (for officer training). But few minutes later,
we see her with superiors, who are congratulating Daffi for passing the tests
to become an officer. The time-jump doesn’t show what caused this
transformation, but it is just used as a plot point to fuel the upcoming
events. When Daffi is given an envelope that shows her posting place, we know
where she is going to go. Although Lavie misses out on a nuanced script, she
had done well in extracting great performances from her female cast and never
gives into the urge of making political statements. The apolitical nature of “Zero
Motivation” works better for the film, since it isn’t a work commenting on the
triviality of war. Lavie’s intention solely rests on showing how female
soldiers are only treated as secretaries and how their under-represented dis-satisfactions
are brushed off by didactic speeches on patriotism.
“Zero Motivation” (97 minutes) takes a darkly humorous glimpse
at the tedious lives of female pencil-pushing soldiers. It is hampered by few
easy resolutions, but the distinctive style of absurdism keeps us engrossed.
Trailer
2 comments:
I've never watched an Israeli movie yet. But after reading your post, I think I will catch this movie.
As always, this is a good review. I've one suggestion though. Could you add a rating section? That would help your readers make up their minds.
@Navin, many of the modern Israeli are gaining prominence among global cinephiles. "Footnote", "Gett" and "Late Marriage" are few of my favorite Israel films. I mostly try to review movies that engrossed me. Anyhow, I will surely add a rating section.
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