''Bar 51'' (Hebrew: בר 51) is an Israeli independent underground dramatic art film directed by

Amos Guttman Amos Guttman ( he, עמוס גוטמן; May 10, 1954 – February 16, 1993) was an Israeli film director, born in Romania. He directed the first ever Israeli LGBT-themed film and most of his films were based on events that happened in his own pers ...

and cowritten with and .

Plot

The film deals with Thomas's incestuous love for his sister, Mariana: After they arrive together in Tel Aviv-Yafo, after escaping from Migdal HaEmek due to the death of their Christian mother, Ewa, 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 and Zara a.k.a. Sarah Azulay. 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 Gila Goldstein ( he, גילה גולדשטיין; 18 December 1947– 5 February 2017) was an Israeli sex worker, actress, singer and transgender rights activist. She was one of the first activists of the Aguda, the oldest and largest LGBT organ ...

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 and distributed by , stars ''inter alia'' Alon Abutbul,

Mosko Alkalai Mosko Alkalai ( he, מוסקו אלקלעי; March 10, 1931 – April 1, 2008) was an Israeli actor. ...

, , and David Wilson and features music by and (in addition to a song performed by and written by and ), cinematography by , editing by

Tova Ascher Tova Ascher, also Tova Asher ( he, טובה אשר) is an Israeli film director and film editor.Melanie Goodfellow"Interview: Tova Ascher" ''Screen Daily'' She edited over 50 films. Personal life and career Ascher was born in Netanya. After gra ...

, and production by Enrique Rottenberg and . The film ends with Thomas violently raping Mariana, following by her killing him.

Cast

Juliano Mer-Khamis Juliano Mer-Khamis ( he, ג'וליאנו מר ח'מיס; ar, جوليانو مير خميس; born Juliano Khamis; 29 May 19584 April 2011) was an Israeli/Palestinian actor, director, filmmaker, and political activist of Jewish and Palestinian ...

as Thomas * as Mariana * as Ewa *Belinka Metzner as Luna * as Zara * Alon Abutbul as Aranjuez *

Mosko Alkalai Mosko Alkalai ( he, מוסקו אלקלעי; March 10, 1931 – April 1, 2008) was an Israeli actor. ...

as Karl * David Wilson as Aaron

Reception

Journalist favorably compared this film to the works of

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

, journalist blasted the film for its lack of "style" though he nonetheless called it one of the great Israeli films of the 1980s, while journalist Daniel Warth also noted the similarities to Fassbinder and

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

, yet claimed that these remained on the surface only, as this film lacked a "message". Nevertheless, more recently, it came out as the 30th best Israeli film out of 40 listed in a poll of critics conducted by ''Maariv'', and also received two votes (Marat Parkhomovsky and ) in a similar 2018 survey of critics. The film, whose budget was said to be the equivalent of $400,000, was awarded several prizes by the Israeli

Ministry of Economy A ministry of economy, ministry of commerce, ministry of economic affairs or department of commerce is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the economy or economic policy. List Examples of such mini ...

and was screened at

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, despite being a commercial failure with only 32,000 tickets sold. The film was released on DVD in Israel by as part of a boxset containing the complete filmography of Guttman and an equivalent boxset was released in France by . Several nowadays notable Israeli film people, such as , , and , started out as crew bit parts on this film and it is said to be a big influence on

Sivan Levy Sivan Levy ( he, סִיוָן לֵּוִי; born 4 June 1987) is an Israeli singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and actress. Early life After graduating from Israel's Alon School of the Arts in 2007, Levy began her military service as a singer for t ...

, who covered some of its music (such as the 1937 song "

My Funny Valentine "My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart coming of age musical ''Babes in Arms'' in which it was introduced by teenaged star Mitzi Green. The song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 130 ...

" by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

and

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

). A main character in Guttman's 1992 film '' Amazing Grace'' is also called Thomas, probably as homage to this film. A restaurant named after this film has opened in Tel Aviv-Yafo in 2019.

References

External links

* * ( lternative Entry {{Amos Guttman 1980s dance films 1986 independent films 1986 LGBT-related films 1986 drama films Cross-dressing in film Cultural depictions of activists Cultural depictions of actors Cultural depictions of Israeli people Cultural depictions of musicians Cultural depictions of transgender people 1980s English-language films Films about Christianity Films about entertainers Films about homelessness Films about male prostitution Films about murderers Films about prostitution in Israel Films about rape Films about siblings Films about violence against women Films directed by Amos Guttman Films set in hotels Films set in Tel Aviv Films shot in Israel Fratricide in fiction Gay-related films 1980s Hebrew-language films Incest in film Israeli drama films Israeli independent films Israeli LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films Films about striptease Women and death 1986 multilingual films Israeli multilingual films