Daffi (Nelly Tagar) and Zohar (Dana Ivgy) are on their way to more exciting military service in ZERO MOTIVATION
ZERO MOTIVATION (Talya Lavie, 2014)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
December 3-16
212-727-8110
www.filmforum.org
www.kinolorber.com
Writer-director Talya Lavie makes a smashing debut with the outrageously funny black comedy Zero Motivation. Inspired by her own mandatory service in the Israeli army, where she served as a secretary, Lavie skewers both military life and office work as she focuses on a group of woman NCOs who spend most of their time fetching coffee for the male officers, singing, poking fun at one another, and trying to break the Minesweeper record on their aging computers. When Tehila (Yonit Tobi) arrives, Daffi (Nelly Tagar) is positive that the mousy young woman is her replacement and that her request for a transfer to Tel Aviv has finally been approved. Daffi’s best friend, Zohar (Dana Ivgy), refuses to follow orders, continually getting into trouble as she disobeys their commander, Rama (Shani Klein), who is gung ho on joining the men at the big boys’ table, and not just to make sure their cups and plates are full. Irena (Tamara Klingon) is a beautiful blond Russian who develops a curious problem of her own. And Livnat (Heli Twito) and Liat (Meytal Gal) enjoy needling the clueless Daffi and the dour Zohar as often as they possibly can. Not much real work gets done in this office, but with an important inspection on the horizon, the women have to shift into gear, although not all of them are exactly on the same page.
Military black comedy was a huge critical and commercial success in Israel
Named Best Narrative Feature at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and winner of five Israeli Academy Awards — Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing (Arik Leibovitch), Best Music (Ran Bagno), and Best Actress (Ivgy, who also won Best Supporting Actress for Next to Her) — Zero Motivation is a madcap romp through the lives of these women, tinged with just the right amount of seriousness. Evoking M*A*S*H mixed with The Office and Orange Is the New Black, the film explores such themes as sex, feminism, power, war, office politics, and love, mostly with its tongue placed firmly in its cheek, along with some genuinely tender moments and a truly devastating scene following a harsh breakup, reminding everyone what really matters. But through it all, Lavie keeps the jokes coming, many of them of the laugh-out-loud, fall-off-your-chair variety, even while sharing telling insights on the mundanity of human existence and the ever-present gender-inequality divide. Zero Motivation is playing December 3-16 at Film Forum, with Lavie and Ivgy on hand for Q&As following the 7:15 shows on December 3, 4, and 5.