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Melting Away (Hebrew)

By Golu
The movie dramatizes the rejection and stigmatization of transsexuals, and the obstacles they face in simply trying to lead a normal existence. A beautiful film in not just acting but also production values, sensitive, background music etc, this film definitely deserves a wider audience. I have seen a few films on a similar subject but the sensitivity with which things have been handled here, definitely calls for applaud for the director.

Shlomo and Galya have a teenage son. When Shlomo discovers women's clothing and accessories in his son Assaf's room, , decides to 'teach the boy a lesson' and lock the home's door for him on a rainy night. His theory is the boy will learn fast and get back to house, get into studies and forget everything. Four years late, Galya comes to a detective to find her son since Shlomo has cancer and is dying. The detective son finds out that Assaf is now Anna and has undergone a sex change operation and she lives on her own and has friend close friends with her. The detective tells her the details about her father but doesn't tell Galya the truth. Starting next day, Anna starts visiting the hospital in the pretext of a private nurse sent from insurance company. Anna and Shlomo start bonding and they talk about things in their private life including Shlomo's closeness with his father and how he misses him. Soon Galya realizes that Anna is Assaf and is heartbroken. She reacts negatively but slowly starts coming around. Finally Shlomo passes away after asking Anna if she is satisfied with her life as a woman and then the truth is revealed that 3 years ago, he had changed his will to give his everything to his wife Galya, brother and Anna.

The end was pretty interesting when it is revealed that Shlomo all along knew that the nurse was his son turned daughter. I can imagine how hard it must be for parents to accept these changes but what is even harder is the individuals who have to go through this. In a chilling scene where the parents lock Assaf out on a rainy night is shocking. I can't even imagine anyone being in that position and not knowing what to do. The scenes thereafter between Anna and Shlomo are heart-warming too. I also liked the angle of Anna's friend and his boyfriend and the mother. The scene where her friend comes out to her mother as gay, is one of the best in this film. Though it directly doesn't contribute much to the film, but I think in terms of the reaction from the mother, this one has got to be one of the best coming out scenes in terms of emotions. I hope they had elaborated a little more of that couple as well. Story was novel and the execution was also perfect. The actor playing Anna, though female herself, does a great job. Although, the movie would have been more compelling if the audience could have seen a true transsexual in the role.

Hatts off to the producer to make such a brilliant emotional film. Its a shame that not many people are aware of it. I just happened to lay my hands on this and I am so glad that I did. (8/10)
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