From Tzivi’s Guide to the 2012 Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema
TOP PERFORMANCES: My Best Actor pick for 2012 is Yehezkel Lazarov who plays “Dov Markovsky” in Dina Zvi-Riklis’ Yishuv drama The Fifth Heaven. Markovsky is a Russian-born physician who runs a small orphanage. As 1945 begins, the Jews of Palestine have ceased to fear a Nazi invasion, and they are eager to return to the business of statehood. But Markovsky, an idealist, can’t turn his back on those already dependent on him for their minimal sustenance.
Most of the action takes place in the orphanage, and the large cast of women and girls who live there under his wing is terrific. My Best Supporting Actress nod goes to Rotem Zisman as “Bertha,” a young woman engaged in a way too public affair with a British officer, but a close second is Esti Zakheim as “Paula,” an older woman remembering the Warsaw of her glory days.
Click HERE to read my review of The Fifth Heaven for WomenArts.
Top Photo (poster): Yehezkel Lazarov as “Dov Markovsky” (center) with the girls in the orphange. Esti Zakheim as “Paula” is on the far left.
Bottom Photo: Rotem Zisman as “Bertha” seen in a rare moment of happiness.
Photos courtesy of the Go2Films. All rights reserved.
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