 | | | Photo provided
| | | | | | This month the International Film Showcase is offering movie goers a touching comedy-drama, Noodle. It starts in Tel Aviv where a flight attendant finds herself in charge of a young Chinese boy who's lost his mother, does not speak Hebrew and is an illegal resident. The lost boy and the young woman, who has been hurt by life, rescue each other and find a way home.
An American movie director might have built more suspense and dramatic tension within the plot, but Noodle director Ayelet Menahemi doesn't go there. While there are moments that create a bit of tension, it's never taken to climatic heights. Instead, the dominant tone of Noodle is that of a gradual transformation of the characters as they are confronted with very unusual circumstances.
The three main adults, Mili (the flight attendant), her sister Llana and her brother-in-law Izzy, are pushed out of their routine, out of the paths they've traveled so many times, and they grow as a result. The transformation unfolds subtly, as it might happen in real life.
Emotional spectators will still have to take out handkerchiefs once or twice; lost little boys looking for their mothers never fail to draw tears. But that too is not over done. It feels like something that could happen to anyone, and the way the characters react is normal, not heroic, hysterical or obnoxious. They are normal people doing the best they can, stretching themselves and becoming better human beings as a result. The normality of the story is probably why it's easy to believe, even if the plot includes a few improbabilities.
The actors are excellent. Special kudos go to BaoQi Chen who plays Noodle. The movie was first presented in the United States at the 17th Annual Jewish Film Festival in Portland, Oregon and it won the Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the Montreal Film Festival.
Noodle opens at the Orinda Theatre for one week beginning October 19. For times and more information, visit lamorindatheatres.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA