Lemon Popsicle

Lemon Popsicle

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Boaz Davidson
Produced by Yoram Globus
Menahem Golan
Written by Boaz Davidson
Eli Tavor
Starring Yftach Katzur
Zachi Noy
Jonathan Sagall
Cinematography Adam Greenberg
Edited by Alain Jakubowicz
Production
company
Noah Films
Distributed by Noah Films (Israel)
SCO (West Germany)
Release dates
  • 11 February 1978
Running time
 95 minutes
Country Israel
Language Hebrew
Budget I£3,000,000
Box office I£12,500,000 (Israel; 1978)

Lemon Popsicle (Israeli: Eskimo Limon, Hebrew: אסקימו לימון‎) is a 1978 Israeli cult film directed by Boaz Davidson which led to a series of sequels.[1] The movie follows a group of three teenagers in their quest to lose their virginity.


Synopsis

Nili (Niki in English-language release, played by Anat Atzmon), a beautiful new girl comes to the school of the friend trio. Benzi, the typical "nice guy" of the three immediately falls in love with Nili. However, Nili prefers more pushing and experienced Momo who is keen on deflowering her. Later, it is revealed that Momo had impregnated and dumped Nili. Benzi, hoping to start a relationship with her, helps Nili get an abortion and emotionally consoles her, only to see that she soon returns to the arms of Momo.

The film contains the memorable scene with an older olah named Stella (Ophelia Shtruhl) enticing the three kids into having sex with her in sequence, and then earning the nickname "Stella HaMegameret" ("A-cumming Stella") for she screams "I'm a-cumming! I'm a-cumming!" (instead of "cumming") during sex because of her poor Hebrew.

Release and reception

Budget

The picture was produced at a budget of 3 million Israeli lira, of which a million was paid in royalties to the musicians (mostly American) whose songs were used in the soundtrack.[2]

Box office

It became an immediate commercial success; by December 1978, Lemon Popsicle sold 1,268,000 tickets in its native country and grossed 12.5 million lira. It was circulated in 700 prints in Europe, where it earned $650,000 during the same period.[3] In total, it sold 1,350,000 tickets in the state, becoming the highest-grossing Israeli picture in history.[2] In West Germany, it reached the 11th place at the 1978 box office, with 2.7 million tickets sold. [4] Lemon Popsicle also gained considerable popularity in the rest of Europe and in Japan.[5] It was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the 36th Golden Globe Awards, losing to the Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata.[6] The film was also selected as the Israeli entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[7]

Legacy

Sequels

The series became a success in Germany under the name Eis am Stiel. Most of the films were also dubbed into English and were released in both the United States and United Kingdom. Since the release of Lemon Popsicle, eight sequels have been made (beginning in 1979).

Remake

In 1982, Davidson wrote and directed an American remake, The Last American Virgin, which was not met with the same success as the original.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ New York Times
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Almog, O'z. Peridah mi-Śeruliḳ: shinui ʻarakhim ba-eliṭah ha-Yiśreʼelit. Zemorah-Bitan (2004). ISBN 9789653110519. p. 1156.
  3. ↑ סרט השנה: אסקימו לימון (Film of the Year: Lemon Popsicle). Maariv, 28 December 1978, p. 47.
  4. ↑ Top 50 Deutschland 1978. insidekino.com.
  5. ↑ Vasudev, Aruna. Being and Becoming: the Cinemas of Asia. MacMillan (2002). ISBN 9780333938201. p. 222.
  6. ↑ 36th Golden Globe Awards. goldenglobes.org.
  7. ↑ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  8. ↑ New York Times

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lemon Popsicle.