The Kind Words

Synopsis: When their mother dies, three siblings and their estranged father gather to mourn her. Going through old papers and photos they start to realise that their mother may have been hiding things about her past from them.

The Kind Words is an amiable film that pushes no boundaries and is pleasing in a low-key way. The opening scenes impressively sets the context for the secrets that are to be unearthed years many later. Surtitles announce it is Algeria, 1963 and we watch scratchy old film footage of a young couple, obviously much in love, who are abruptly separated by a middle-of-the night raid. When the film melts we are transported to Jerusalem, 2012 where we meet the grown-up children of that union and learn of their various life problems.

Dorona (Rotem Zissman Cohen) is in a marital predicament with her loving husband Ricki (Tsahi Halevi). She has had so many miscarriages and does not want to continue trying for a child. Although he wants to adopt, she doesn't. They agree on some sort of temporary separation to think things through. Her brother, Netanel (Roy Assaf), is leading the life of an Orthodox Jew only because of the woman to whom he is married. The other brother Shai (Assaf Ben Shimon) is bisexual, has just broken up with his boyfriend and skypes his little daughter regularly. Their much-loved mother, Yona (Levana Finkelstein), died after the complications of an operation and their father (Sasson Gabai) remarried, causing the siblings to have a very cold relationship with him for many years.

The jigsaw puzzle of matching Yona's past in Algeria and her life as known by her family is one of the film’s strengths, and moving the latter parts of the plot to Marseilles brings variety, as well as a new character in the form of an old man the kids think may have had some connection to their mother. The mother-daughter relationship between Yona and Dorona is nicely portrayed. Dorona is perpetually sour-faced and petulant and, despite her mother's entreaties, endlessly resistant to discussing with her father something he critically needs to talk over with his kids. What their father has to reveal eventually sets in motion the hunt by the kids for "the truth".

Gabai, a regular face in Israeli films, plays a sympathetic character and his compassionate approach to his dismissive kids is admirable. The portrayal of the sibling's relationships with each other is also a well-drawn picture of family bonds and resentments, but the way in which the cinematographer handles it at times gets a bit annoyingly repetitive - too many shots of the three of them in poses that feel forced. The cinematography also gets annoying when sequences that mark passing of time are sped up. The director is obviously keen to "tell a story" and this results in a by-the-numbers progression to the narrative and the relationships and at times it smacks a little of a soap opera.

For those keen on revelling in other family’s dramas this film could be a goer, but ultimately it is too formulaic to be really memorable and its telling feels laboured.

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