I didn’t see 2002’s Yossi and Jagger, though now I rather wish I had. That earlier film was about a pair of Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border who fall in love on the front lines and it ended with Jagger’s death. This film then takes place ten years later, where Yossi is now a thirty-something medical doctor, overweight, unhealthy, closeted, burying himself in work and internet porn, and completely crushed by grief and loneliness.
I felt for the man, really I did; the exhaustion his pain has brought him is so tangible. Finally, on a much-needed R&R trip to Eilat, he meets a cute soldier called Tom, and while what happens between them isn’t necessary 100% believable, it is redemptive and important and it still feels credible. That feat is mostly due to the fantastic performance of Ohad Knoller as Yossi. Brilliant. Anyway, Yossi filmed in Jerusalem and in the harsh desert towards the city of Eilat – which looks completely awful on film.