I don't doubt that this was a groundbreaking movie in Israel in 1964, but it didn't do much for me in the U.S. in 2013. Virtually every turn in the plot was telegraphed far in advance. But if I wasn't surprised by the events, I was taken aback by how long the gags were allowed to run until the camera finally moved on. I was also surprised by how thoroughly insufferable most of the characters were, in terms of both personality traits and speaking styles. The romantic interludes, which involved the most purely sympathetic characters, only partially helped to mitigate the long stretches of whining in Yemenite, Eastern European, and Israeli accents. I had planned to watch the movie twice to work on my Hebrew, but making it through once was more than enough.
Review of Sallah Shabati
