Eyes Wide Open

After the death of his father, Aaron, a respectably married butcher working in Jerusalem's Orthodox community, hires a nomadic young student to assist with his business. Aaron teaches the handsome Ezri the rules of his trade, and lets him stay in the empty room at the back of his shop, but it is not long before the pair recognise that their relationship is much more than simply master and apprentice, and they cautiously embark on a love affair which must be kept hidden at all costs. Delicately handled by first time director Haim Tabakman, Eyes Wide Open is at heart a beautifully affecting love story, which, despite the emotional intensity of the subject matter, remains impeccably restrained throughout. The hesitancy of the central relationship, and Aaron's repeated refusal to fully submit to his feelings, create an atmosphere of often suffocating tension, with the threat of the disapproving townspeople looming large in the background. Aaron and Ezri's unspoken love affair is effectively juxtaposed with the plight of a local woman whose attempts to have a relationship with a man to whom she is not betrothed cause uproar within the community. Together these stories serve to highlight the contradictions and personal restrictions that exist within this world of organised religion and fiercely revered tradition.

Michael Blyth