Yana's Friends

Friends of film, take note
It is 1991 in Tel Aviv, and with the threat of Saddam Hussein's poison gas missiles forcing Israeli citizens into sealed rooms in the middle of the night, an interconnected set of stories manages to put warmth into a most controversial of topics: Immigration and Israel...

For once, the film manages to set aside the politics a bit and a human face is seen first.

Yana's Friends is a lovely story. Everything in this film is charming and perfectly moderate. The music is beautiful, the comedy is genuine, the story has it all: finely interwoven stories and surprises, beleivable charm. I wish for the appropriate word; it seems to me this film is, beautifully and charmingly, moderate; and that is what makes it so successful in reaching its aims: to warm, to charm, to make one laugh. Its details, its atmosphere, its characters all are created with a feeling that is not precisely "magic," but "real," and it is genuinely and warmly funny. I think this director, Arik Kaplun, has something to...

Entertaining, quirky immigrant comedy
"Yana's Friends" is a light movie about a young pregnant Russian woman left alone in Israel by her husband, with only her philandering roommate and rude landlady to watch over her. The exploits of poor Russian immigrant are humorized, with the Gulf War as an often-comic backdrop. The film never loses its charm; the characters are always entertaining. Although funnier if you speak Russian, anyone can enjoy a sweet movie like this one.

Yofi! (that means great!)
The movie was what they call a good "tragicomedy" in Russia. It had its almost hopeless moments, yet showed what the perseverance and hope one has can do and what fruit they will bear. The movie had a very unexpected and charming ending :)

Those who watch it, will not be disappointed (unless they only want to cry like the reviewer before me). And I am from Russia too, and lived there in the 90's, so don't listen to the disenchanted. This movie will give you a reason to hope and to smile :)

Click to Editorial Reviews