Alex Holeh Ahavah

88 minutesCountryIsraelLanguagesHebrew
Polish

Alex Holeh Ahavah (Hebrew: אלכס חולה אהבה, Alex Is Lovesick) is a 1986 Israeli film directed by Boaz Davidson. It stars Eitan Anshel, Sharon Hacohen, and Uri Kabiri. The film, set in the 1950s, features a boy (Anshel) as the main protagonist and his life as the son of Polish immigrants.

Plot

The film is a romantic comedy that takes place in Israel during the austerity period of the 1950s. The main character is Alex, a 12-year-old boy who is about to turn 13 and attend his bar mitzvah.

Alex comes from a poor, dysfunctional family of Polish Jewish origin whose poverty requires them to share their apartment. Their tenant is Faruk,a man whose humorous battle against baldness is a running bit in the film.

At first, Alex falls in love with Mimi, the new girl in his class. Everything changes, however, when his aunt Lola arrives in Israel from Poland to search for a lost love with whom she once lived but who vanished after the Nazi invasion of Poland. Alex falls for his aunt and she responds by providing the soon-to-be 13-year-old with more than familial love.

The film authentically recreates the atmosphere of the country in the 1950s, known as the Austerity in Israel, including the black market, radio broadcasts concentrating on the search for lost relatives, music and pastimes of the 1950s and the era's clothing and dress styles.

Cast

• Eitan Anshel [he] as Alexander Koprobski
• Sharon Hacohen [he] as Lola
• Uri Kabiri as Fishenzon
• Avi Kushnir as Motke, Shuki's brother
• Jupiter Leonid as Leonid the teacher
• Avraham Mor as Alex' Dad
• Alik Pelman as Shuki
• Shmuel Rodensky as Alex' Rabbi
• Hanna Roth [he] as Alex' Mom (as Hanna Roth)
• Hinna Rozovska as Alexander's Grandmother
• Yosef Shiloach as Faruk
• Yael Wasserman as Mimi

External links

• "Alex Holeh Ahavah" - The full film is available on VOD on the website for the Israel Film Archive - Jerusalem Cinematheque
• Alex Holeh Ahavah at IMDb