Yossi & Jagger ***½ (2002, Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi, Asi Cohen, Aya Koren) – Classic Movie Review 13,263

Eytan Fox’s moving 2002 Israeli romantic drama film Yossi & Jagger is a love story between two soldiers (Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi) stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border.

‘Two soldiers and a love that lasts forever… Love should never be a secret.’

Director Eytan Fox’s 2002 Israeli romantic drama film Yossi & Jagger [Yossi VeJagger] focuses on soldiers at the Israel–Lebanon border trying to find some peace and distraction from the daily routine of war before the harsh reality of battle sets in.

Ohad Knoller stars in a subtle, moving, low-key performance as Yossi, who commands a company of soldiers stationed in an Israeli outpost in the snow-covered mountains near Lebanon. He has a secret passionate romantic relationship with his second-in-command officer, Lior (Yehuda Levi), called Jagger for his rock star-like looks. Secret it may be, but it is a bit of an open secret. They canoodle together in the snow,  sneaking away from the others, who seem to know about it anyway, or guess. Jagger would be happy to share the secret with the world, but Yossi is much more enclosed, shut in, shut down and closetty. He’s not even good at declaring his love for Jagger, though he loves him deeply. Jagger though embraces the gay side, dancing and pop songs and all. He’s a free spirit. For him, love should never be a secret.

A grim colonel (Sharon Raginiano) arrives at the base with two female soldiers, one of whom, Yaeli (Aya Koren), is interested in Jagger as a prospective partner, while another soldier, Ofir (Asi Cohen) is interested in her sexually and tries to force himself on her. He hints that Jagger is not the kind of man interested in her. The colonel immediately has sex with the other female soldier, Goldie (Hani Furstenberg), in the bunker. Their coldly efficient practical attitudes to love are contrasted sharply with Yossi & Jagger’s warmly romantic ones.

Sex aside, the colonel has officially come to supervise a night-time ambush, but Yossi tells him clearly that he disapproves of it because of the dangers involved and the risks to his men during a full moon.

Yossi & Jagger is a quietly beautiful film, simple, direct and straightforward, with no histrionics. It is way too short at 67 minutes but makes every minute count. It has considerable resonance and emotional impact, honourably understated in a dignified way, but still powerful. It is kind of doomy, like most war films, so no one need go here for cheering up.

The soldiers all emerge as different kinds of nice everyday heroes, determined but reluctant cannon fodder. They don’t really know quite what they are doing there, and don’t care much anyway, but are just getting on with it the best they can.

Maybe it needs more development, a bigger scale, definitely more running time than its meagre 67 minutes, but maybe small is beautiful. It is certainly impactful, yes and thoughtful too, and above all moving.

The big moment is Yossi finally forced to express his love for Jagger, and it is handled exquisitely. But in some ways the most effective scene is the last one at the reception at Jagger’s parents’ house, where Jagger’s mother thinks Yaeli is his girlfriend and is vaguely hostile to Yossi. She confesses she knows little about her son, not even his favourite song, but Yossi can tell her it is ‘Bo’ sung by Rita.

Ohad Knoller won the best actor award at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival as Yossi.

It had n0 assistance from the Israeli army but was popular in Israel and was later shown on military bases.

The film has a sequel entitled Yossi [Yossi’s Story] released in 2012 that picks up the story a decade after the events in the first film, and also again stars Ohad Knoller as Yossi.

The cast are Ohad Knoller as Yossi, Yehuda Levi as Lior Amichai ‘Jagger’, Assi Cohen as Ophir, Aya Steinovitz as Yaeli, Hani Furstenberg as Goldie, Sharon Raginiano as The Colonel, Yuval Semo as Psycho, Yaniv Moyal as Samoncha, Hanan Savyon as Adams, Erez Kahana as Yaniv the Cook, Shmulik Bernheimer as Shmuel ‘Shmulik’ Amichai, and Yael Pearl as Varda Amichai.

Yossi & Jagger is directed by Eytan Fox, runs 67 minutes, is distributed by Strand Releasing, is written by Avner Bernheimer, is produced by Amir Harel and Gal Uchovsky, is shot by Yaron Scharf, is scored by Ivri Lider.

Release date: August 1, 2002.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,263

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