Alex Holeh Ahavah

Alex Holeh Ahavah

director Boaz Davidson looks through a camera at the old railway station in Jerusalem during a scene from the film
Directed by Boaz Davidson
Produced by Yitzhak Shani
Written by Boaz Davidson
Starring Eitan Anshel
Sharon Hacohen
Uri Kabiri
Avi Kushnir
Cinematography Amnon Salomon
Edited by Bruria Davidson
Running time
 88 minutes
Country Israel
Language Hebrew
Polish

Alex Holeh Ahavah (Hebrew: אלכס חולה אהבה‎, English: Alex Is Lovesick) is an Israeli cult film directed by Boaz Davidson which was released in 1986.

Plot

The film is a romantic comedy that takes place in Israel during the austerity period of the 1950s. The main character is Alex, a 12-year-old boy who is about to turn 13 and attend his bar mitzvah.

Alex comes from a poor, dysfunctional family of Polish Jewish origin whose poverty requires them to share their apartment. Their tenant is Faruk, a Persian man whose humorous battle against baldness is a running bit in the film.

At first, Alex falls in love with Mimi, the new girl in his class. Everything changes, however, when his aunt Lola arrives in Israel from Poland to search for a lost love with whom she once lived but who vanished after the Nazi invasion of Poland. Alex falls for his aunt and she responds by providing the soon-to-be 13 year old with more than familial love.

The film authentically recreates the atmosphere of the country in the 1950s, known as the Austerity in Israel, including the black market, radio broadcasts concentrating on the search for lost relatives, music and pastimes of the 1950s and the era's clothing and dress styles.

Cast

External links