Bar 51

Bar 51 (Hebrew: בר 51) is a 95-minute 1986 Israeli English- and Hebrew-language independent underground dramatic art film directed by Amos Guttman and cowritten with Edna Mazia and Eli Tavor.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Film poster

Synopsis

The film deals with Thomas's (Juliano Mer-Khamis) incestuous love for his sister, Mariana (Smadar Kilchinsky): After they arrive together in Tel Aviv-Yafo, after escaping from Migdal HaEmek due to the death of their Christian mother, Ewa (Rahel Shor), and setting up housekeeping in the sleazy side of town, Thomas makes his money as “kept man” for two different women who are nightclub entertainers at a bar filled with homosexual, deformed, and inebriated workers, Luna (Belinka Metzner) and Zara a.k.a. Sarah Azulay (Irit Sheleg). He first attempts to work at a hotel yet is fired upon being caught stealing supplies for Mariana and has to resort to a dirty shelter. At the same time, he attracts the attentions of an amorous transvestite prostitute and stripper (“Ada Valerie-Tal” i.e. Sergiu Valerie) calling himself “Apolonia Goldstein” (a character based on Gila Goldstein who performed in a real-life bar called Bar 51) who allows the siblings to live at his apartment. His unnatural love for his sister goes unexpressed, however, his jealousy cannot be controlled. If his sister wants to lead any sort of a normal life, it will be up to her to break her dependence on her brother and move on. The film, developed at Herzliya Studios and distributed by Shapira Films, stars inter alia Alon Abutbul, Mosko Alkalai,[7] Poly Reshef, and David Wilson and features music by Arik Rudich and Shimrit Or (in addition to a song performed by Sarah’le Sharon and written by Dudu Barak and Yeshayahu (Shaike) Paikov), cinematography by Yossi Wein,[8] editing by Tova Ascher,[9] and production by Enrique Rottenberg and Efrat Stieglitz.[10] The film ends with Thomas violently raping Mariana, following by her killing him.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

Reception

Journalist Yael Israel favorably compared this film to the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Martin Scorsese,[28] journalist Nachman Ingber blasted the film for its lack of “style” though he nonetheless called it one of the great Israeli films of the 1980s,[29] while journalist Daniel Warth also noted the similarities to Fassbinder and Pier Paolo Pasolini, yet claimed that these remained on the surface only, as this film lacked a “message.”[30] Nevertheless, more recently, it came out as the 30th best Israeli film out of 40 listed in a poll of critics conducted by Maariv,[31] and also received two votes (Marat Parkhomovsky and Yael Shuv) in a similar 2018 survey of critics.[32] The film, whose budget was said to be the equivalent of $400,000, was awarded several prizes by the Israeli Ministry of Economy[33] and was screened at Chicago International Film Festival, despite being a commercial failure with only 32,000 tickets sold.[34] The film was released on DVD in Israel by Third Ear DVDs as part of a boxset containing the complete filmography of Guttman[35] and an equivalent boxset was released in France by Bach Films.[36] Several nowadays notable Israeli film people, such as Rona Doron, Levia Hon, and Yoni Hamenachem, started out as crew bit parts on this film and it is said to be a big influence on Sivan Levy, who covered some of its music (such as the 1937 song My Funny Valentine by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart).[37] A main character in Guttman's 1992 film Amazing Grace is also called Thomas, probably as homage to this film.[38] A restaurant named after this film has opened in Tel Aviv-Yafo in 2019.[39]

References
  1. Leskali, Hezi (20 June 1986). האשה של אזור הדמדומים [Twilight Zone Woman (Part I)] (PDF). Ha’ir (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Schocken Group. p. 32. Retrieved 4 March 2018. Leskali, Hezi (20 June 1986). האשה של אזור הדמדומים [Twilight Zone Woman (Part II)] (PDF). Ha’ir (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Schocken Group. p. 33. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  2. Almog, Oz (2004). פרידה משרוליק: שינוי ערכים באליטה הישראלית [Farewell to "Srulik:" Changing Values Among the Israeli Elite] (in Hebrew). II. Haifa and Or Yehuda: Haifa University Press and Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir. p. 1164. ISBN 9789653110519. OCLC 56795640.
  3. Orsher, Gidi (October 1987). המלך הוא עירום [The King Is Naked] (PDF). Haaretz (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. Schnitzer, Meir (October 1987). איפה אל״ף? איפה בי״ת? [No ABCs] (PDF). Hadashot (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. p. 23. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  5. "Himmo, King of Jerusalem". TV Guide. 1988. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  6. Sigoli, Orr (12 December 2016). סרטים מן העבר: חימו מלך ירושלים [Films From the Past: Himmo, King of Jerusalem]. Srita (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Mifal HaPayis. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  7. Parkhomovsky, Marat (8 October 2007). מוסקו אלקלעי [Mosko Alkalai]. Israeli Cinema Testimonial Database (in Hebrew). Israel Film Council. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  8. Raveh, Yair (2 February 2015). יוסי ויין, הצלם של בר 51 ונגוע, הלך לעולמו [Yossi Wein, Cinematographer of Bar 51 and Drifting, Has Passed Away]. CinemaScope. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  9. Parkhomovsky, Marat (27 September 2016). טובה אשר [Tova Ascher]. Israeli Cinema Testimonial Database (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  10. Shamgar, Irit (12 June 1986). בורגני צמוד [A Tight Bourgeois]. Maariv (in Hebrew). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  11. Fainaru, Dan (November 1986). Cowie, Peter; Elley, Derek (eds.). International Film Guide, 1987. London and New York: Tantivy Press and American Zoetrope. p. 218. ISBN 9780900730382. OCLC 15350659. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  12. Ferber, Nir. בר 51 [Bar 51]. Cinema of Israel (in Hebrew). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  13. Ferber, Nir (22 March 2015). ההיסטוריוגרפיה האלטרנטיבית של הקולנוע הישראלי – סטריפטיז: אאוטסיידרים וחריגות קולנועית בבר 51 [Alternative Historiography of Israeli Cinema – Striptease: Outsiders and Cinematic Deviance in Bar 51] (in Hebrew). Ra’anana: Open University of Israel, Department of Literature, Language, and the Arts. Retrieved 9 March 2018 – via YouTube.
  14. Kolodney, Uri. A Different War, a Different Sex: Gay Identity Politics in Israeli Cinema and Its Relation to the Zionist Ethos. Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Karen Grumberg and Prof. Dr. Blake Robert Atwood). December 2014, pp. v, 4n.11, 15–30, 55, 57–59, 65, 67–68, 72n.203, 87n.242–88, and 92–94. OCLC 902679860. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  15. Shamgar, Irit (12 June 1986). לא עליז [Not Gay (Part I)]. Maariv (in Hebrew). p. 19. Retrieved 4 March 2018. Shamgar, Irit (12 June 1986). לא עליז [Not Gay (Part II)]. Maariv (in Hebrew). p. 28. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  16. Kozer, Ran (1997). עמוס גוטמן: במאי קולנוע [Amos Guttman: Filmmaker] (in Hebrew). San Francisco, California, Tel Aviv-Yafo, and Herzliya: Frameline Film Festival, Keren Makor, Stardust–Dagan Price, and Noga Communications. Retrieved 20 March 2018 – via YouTube.
  17. Kozer, Ran (1997). מדברים על סרטים: בר 51 (1986) [Speaking About Films: Bar 51 (1986)] (in Hebrew). San Francisco, California, Tel Aviv-Yafo, and Herzliya: Frameline Film Festival, Keren Makor, Stardust–Dagan Price, and Noga Communications. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  18. Avitzur, Shuli (Summer 2007). עמוס גוטמן: במאי יוצר מצור(ים) [Amos Guttman: Directing Under Siege]. History and Theory: The Protocols (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. 5. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  19. Bursztyn, Igal (May 2009). מבטי קרבה: מחשבות על סרטים [Intimate Gazes: Thoughts About Films] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem and Haifa: Hebrew University Magnes Press and Haifa University Press. pp. 326, 381–387, 424. ISBN 9789654934053. OCLC 441833277.
  20. Bursztyn, Igal (1990). פנים כשדה־קרב: ההיסטוריה הקולנועית של הפנים הישראליים [The Face as Battlefield: The Cinematic History of Israeli Faces] (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Hakibbutz Hameuchad–Sifriat Poalim Publishing Group. pp. 165, 182–184, 199–200. OCLC 233061363. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  21. Cohen, Nir (October 2011). Soldiers, Rebels, and Drifters: Gay Representation in Israeli Cinema. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. pp. 61–64, 67, 73–74, 135, 208. ISBN 9780814334782. OCLC 819284363.
  22. Schnitzer, Meir (1994). הקולנוע הישראלי: כל העובדות, כל העלילות, כל הבמאים וגם ביקורות [Israeli Cinema: All Facts, All Plots, All Directors, and All Critiques] (in Hebrew). Or Yehuda and Jerusalem: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir, Israel Film Archive, and Israel Film Institute. pp. 278–279, 376. ISBN 9789652863782. OCLC 31817606. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  23. Yosef, Prof. Dr. Raz. הפוליטיקה של הנורמלי: מין ואומה בקולנוע הומוסקסואלי ישראלי [The Politics of the Normal: Sex and Nation in Gay Israeli Cinema]. In: Theory and Criticism: An Israeli Forum, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and Hakibbutz Hameuchad–Sifriat Poalim Publishing Group, Volume 30, Spring 2007, pp. 159–187 (in Hebrew), reprinted in: Gross, Aeyal M.; Ziv, Amalia; Yosef, Raz, eds. (2016). סקס אחר: מבחר מאמרים בלימודים להט״ביים וקוויריים ישראליים [Another Sex: Selected Essays in Israeli Queer and LGBT Studies]. Fetish: Original Series of Cultural Critique (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Resling. pp. 93–126. OCLC 952528353. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  24. Yosef, Raz (January 2004). Beyond Flesh: Queer Masculinities and Nationalism in Israeli Cinema. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780813533766. OCLC 231986441.
  25. Schenker, Guilhad Emilio (26 June 2017). חי בסרט עונה 3: ספיישל עמוס גוטמן חלק א [Living in Films Season 3: An Amos Guttman Special (Part I)] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Israeli Educational Television. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via YouTube. Schenker, Guilhad Emilio (10 July 2017). חי בסרט עונה 3: ספיישל עמוס גוטמן חלק ב [Living in Films Season 3: An Amos Guttman Special (Part II)] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Israeli Educational Television. Retrieved 7 October 2018 – via YouTube.
  26. Kronish, Amy W. (1996). World Cinema: Israel. World Cinema, Volume 6. Trowbridge, Madison, New Jersey, Teaneck, New Jersey, and Cranbury, New Jersey: Flicks Books, Associated University Presses, and Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 144, 180, 182, 188. ISBN 9780948911705. OCLC 568122092. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  27. Gross, Natan (1991). הסרט העברי – פרקים בתולדות הראינוע והקולנוע בישראל: 1896–1991 [The Hebrew Film – Chapters in the Annals of Silent and Sound Cinema in Israel: 1896–1991] (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Natan and Yaacov Gross. pp. 318, 376. OCLC 27221790. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  28. Israel, Yael (3 July 1986). עכברי לילה [Mice of the Night] (PDF). Al HaMishmar (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  29. Ingber, Nachman (10 July 1986). בר 51, אילו כולו היה כזה [Bar 51, If Only Thou Hast Been Completely Like That] (PDF). Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew). Rishon LeZion. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  30. Warth, Daniel (11 March 1986). דקדנס מעוצב [Stylized Decadence] (PDF). Ha’ir (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  31. פרויקט הסרטים הישראלים הגדולים: חלק ב׳ [Greatest Israeli Films Project: Part II]. Maariv (in Hebrew). 13 April 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2018. Reported in: Raveh, Yair (15 April 2013). מה הם הסרטים הישראליים הגדולים בכל הזמנים? [Which Are the Greatest Israeli Films of All Times?]. CinemaScope. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  32. Parkhomovsky, Marat (1 March 2018). אחרי 70 שנה: משאל מבקרים [After 70 Years: A Survey of Critics]. Cinematheque Magazine (in Hebrew). Vol. 209. pp. 4–9. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  33. Kronish, Amy W.; Safirman, Costel (May 2003). Israeli Film: A Reference Guide. Reference Guides to the World's Cinema. Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Publishing Group and Praeger Publishers. pp. 31–32, 162, 190. ISBN 9780313321443. OCLC 845524002. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  34. Ne’eman, Yehuda Judd (October 2001). "Israeli Cinema". In Leaman, Oliver Norbert Harold (ed.). Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. London, New York: Taylor & Francis, Routledge. pp. 245, 325, 335, 349. ISBN 9781134662517. OCLC 45466264.
  35. Guttman, Amos (1 June 2007). עמוס גוטמן: האוסף המלא [Amos Guttman: Complete Filmography] (DVD) (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Third Ear DVDs. OCLC 885305029. Retrieved 4 March 2018. Reported in: Yudilovitch, Merav. Yudilovitch, Merav (10 June 2007). סיפור חייו בקופסא [His Life Story in a Boxset]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Rishon LeZion. Retrieved 6 October 2018. Weizmann, Daniel (1 November 2012). דיוידנדים: עמוס גוטמן – מהארון אל המדף [Dividends: Amos Guttman – From the Closet to the Shelf]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Rishon LeZion. Retrieved 6 October 2018. Shoval, Tom (3 July 2007). חסד של אמת [A Truthful Grace]. HaIr Tel Aviv (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 October 2018. Lachman, Dan. Lachman, Dan (9 February 2007). עמוס גוטמן – מארז אסופת סרטיו [Amos Guttman – A Boxset of His Collected Films]. E-Mago (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 October 2018. Reprinted as: Lachman, Dan (16 July 2007). רק על עצמו לספר ידע [He Only Knew How to Talk About Himself]. GoGay (in Hebrew). Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  36. Guttman, Amos (21 March 2014). Amos Guttman: L’intégrale [Amos Guttman: Complete Filmography] (DVD) (in French and Hebrew). Paris: Bach Films. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  37. צפו: סיון לוי חוזרת לבר של עמוס גוטמן [Watch: Sivan Levy Returns to Amos Guttman's Bar]. Ynet (in Hebrew). Rishon LeZion. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  38. Kozer, Ran (1997). מדברים על סרטים: חסד מופלא (1992) [Speaking About Films: Amazing Grace (1992)] (in Hebrew). San Francisco, California, Tel Aviv-Yafo, and Herzliya: Frameline Film Festival, Keren Makor, Stardust–Dagan Price, and Noga Communications. Retrieved 22 March 2018. הסרט הדיברות: פרויקט הסרטים הישראלים הגדול [The Cinematic Ten Commandments: Greatest Israeli Films Project]. Maariv (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  39. Goldstein, Rita (28 March 2019). בר 51: האנשים של מונא מגיעים לתל אביב [Bar 51: Mona's People Arrive in Tel Aviv]. Mako. Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 4 April 2019. Kashmin, Roni (30 March 2019). בר 51: המקום התל אביבי של קבוצת ״מונא״ הירושלמית [Bar 51: The Jerusalemite "Mona" Group's Tel Avivian Place]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo. Retrieved 4 April 2019. Sahar, Reut (1 April 2019). בר 51: המקום הכי לוהט בעיר [Bar 51: The Hottest Place in Town]. Walla! NEWS (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo and Petah Tikva. Retrieved 4 April 2019. Barnea, Reut (1 April 2019). חדשות האוכל: בר 51 קם לתחייה [Food News: Bar 51 Is Resurrected]. Calcalist (in Hebrew). Rishon LeZion. Retrieved 4 April 2019. שף מושיקו גמליאלי: ״בר 51 הוא מקום שמותר לי בו הכל״ [Chef Moshiko Gamlieli: "Bar 51 Is a Place in Which I Am Allowed Anything"]. Al HaShulchan (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv-Yafo: Yuval Sigler Communication Ltd. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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