Hopefully, in a year from now, I will remember how in the middle of the second wave of pandemic and facing a confused future of all kinds, I laughed hysterically on my own for two full hours.
Years of waiting to watch this movie, a spontaneous decision to do it after some bad news and a lot of Corona stress: the Israeli movie Zero Motivation directed by Talya Lavie - that I watched on mubi.com - is a gem of black humor. Exactly what I needed to run out of my petty problems.
Based on the film director´s experience in the IDF, without being autobiographical, it features the crazy adventures of girls soldiers in jobnikiot (noncombat) missions, in a basis in the middle of the desert. In Israel, girls are also under the obligation of conscription with 18, but not necessarily sent to combat. In Zero Motivation, there is no combat, no conflict and no checking-points, just a day and night office work and a lot of juicy characters. A kind of Israeli M.A.S.H. with the kind of direct, hilarious and absurd humor that you can only find there.
I couldn´t stop laughing more than once, and the laugh come naturally in situations when the everyday military protocols are faced with the equal amount of absurdity by those girls who just happen to have to be there. My favorite is the fight with office stapler machines, a very dangerous weapon when in skillful hands. Elegantly, the movie has also something to say about how frustrating may be for women to be in decision-making positions in a world where men take it all. If women can be prime ministers, why not Army generals?
Zero Motivation was first presented in 2014 at Tribeca Film Festival and to other film festivals around the world. It´s really a gem of contemporary Israeli life.
Rating: 5 stars
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