One Last Night

A student film that has made a big impression on the festival circuit, One Last Night deals with the tension that sometimes develops between personal commitments and political obligations. Orr (Agam Schuster) and Noa (Michal Korman) are spending their last night together before the former leaves Tel Aviv to move to Berlin. Their last sexual encounter proves disappointing; they trade apologies and reassurances as people who have become comfortable with one another do, but later events suggest it may be a symptom of a deeper malaise. Noa is supposed to be joining Orr once she gets her affairs in order, but she's reluctant to discuss the subject.

Attending a punk gig (featuring local band Marmara Streisand), Orr is alerted to the fact that one of her friends has been arrested. Her fierce intervention, protesting that the police are racist and trying to insist that his rights are respected, results in her and Noa getting arrested as well. In the police station, the officer processing them makes small talk. Noa is uncomfortable with the way Orr expresses her resentment of everything that happens. Orr, though less inclined towards doubt, is frustrated by Noa's failure to share her convictions or to turn their shared sentiments into action.

Whilst Orr believes passionately that minority groups have to stand together and support one another, she's less aware of the support Noa needs. Over the course of evening, the differences between the two grow more and more apparent, calling into question their future plans. Some of this is spoken, a lot more communicated through expression and body language. Yet we also see the tenderness between the two, understand why what they built together has meaning.

Simply but effectively shot, with impressive low-light work for a beginner, the film itself combines the personal and the political very effectively, just as it immerses the viewer in the local punk subculture but switches with ease into the very different rhythms of the police station. Both stars are good, though Korman gets more opportunity to show her range. Director Kerem Blumberg packs a lot into 22 minutes, but keeps us wondering all the way through and beyond.