Alex Is Lovesick (1986) Alex Holeh Ahavah

Director: Boaz Davidson
Writer: Boaz Davidson
Stars: Eitan Anshel, Batya Barak, Sharon Hacohen

The movie is a romantic comedy which takes place in Israel during the Austerity period of the 1950s. The movie's hero is Alex, a 13 year old boy who is about to attend his Bar Mitzvah. Alex has a typical Polish mother and father that suffers quietly. On account of the difficult economic situation they are compelled to share their apartment with a Persian tenant named Faruk that tries to fight his baldness by means of different creams. Alex falls in love with the new girl in his class, Mimi. Everything changes when his aunt Lola arrives in Israel from Poland to search for lost love. They were together when she lived in Poland but he vanished when Nazis conquered the country. Alex falls for his aunt and she on her part gives him more than just maternal love. The film describes in the exact form the ambiance that dominated the country in the 1950s, the Austerity in Israel in these days, the black markets, the radio broadcasts concentrating on the search for lost relatives, music of the 1950s, the clothes and dresses and forms of pastime.

This movie represents the naive era that my country went through. Back in the 50's and 60's, everyone in Israel was certain that the future will be great. Not that it isn't, but you can see in "Alex is lovesick" that people just cared about love and having fun. Alex (Eitan Anshel) is an innocent 13 years old boy that gets very excited when he gets kissed by an older woman. You can also see in that movie the collection of cultures that arrived Israel after the 2nd world war: Orientals like "Faruk" (Yosef Shiloakh), and Eastern Europeans like Alex's family. I recommend everyone to see this movie if you have a translated version in your language.

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