The opening scene of Israeli director Hagar Ben-Asher’s new ("debut") character study “The Slut” looks like a Technicolor retrospect of “The Turin
Horse”. We see a horse, escaped from a
farm in dry country, running across some fields, toward a Biblical town, before
it gets hit by a car.
A young veterinarian Shai (Ishai Golan) comes to town, to
take care of a deceased mother’s estate and display his practical hands-on
skills in country life, apparently near a kibbutz. Soon he meets Tamar (Hagar Ben-Asher
herself), a 35-year-old single mom with two daughters. She has a tendency to let a number of men
around the village take liberties. But
she starts a predictable relationship with Shai. By this time, the film has already set a
quite explicit tone.
The environmental visuals are interesting. The countryside
is rather flat, so I’m not sure what area of Israel this town is in. There is absolutely no reference to the
politics of the region.
Shai, like many male friends of single mothers, starts playing
possible dad to the girls. At first, all
is healthful. He interests them in
bringing his mom’s injured horse back to health. He accompanies them to a kibbutz-sponsored
day dedicated to volunteerism, to construct a new Sukkah. Then, there’s a scene
where he gives one of them a swimming lesson in a natural spring pond. This is a kind of scene I have often contemplated
for my own screenplays. When I was a
substitute teacher a few years ago, I found myself put into situations possibly
comparable to this, demanding more intimacy than I was prepared to handle.
However, toward the end, Shai’s interests and motives take
on a dark turn. Perhaps one of the girls
is indeed approaching biological maturity, and provides temptation – that we
don’t see. But Tamar, and the villagers,
take on every day, earthy, direct intervention to solve their problems, without
the intervention of the intrusive, high politicized (and self-righteous)
outside world. But the results can be
tragic.
I received a screener from Strand for this film, which also
comes from Transfax and the Sundance Institute. The DVD will be available Oct.
23. The Strand URL is here.
Hollywood Reporter notes that Ben-Asher may be the first
female director to feature herself in a film of this nature, link here.
Culture Buzz (from Israel) interviews the director in the
video above.
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