Red Fields

Adapted from a rock opera, Red Fields follows Neta Elkayam’s Mami as she moves to Tel Aviv with her incapacitated soldier husband in search of a better life. There’s little doubt that Red Fields’ most obvious problem is the deliberateness with which it unfolds, as filmmaker Keren Yedaya delivers a fairly uneventful opening hour that doesn’t contain a whole lot in terms of plot or twists – with the movie’s admittedly catchy musical numbers sustaining one’s interest through the more aggressively meandering stretches. (It’s clear, though, that the often egregiously poetic lyrics do tend to diminish the emotion behind what’s being sung.) And although the solid performances prove effective at cultivating a watchable atmosphere, Red Fields doesn’t wholeheartedly come alive until it progresses into a comparatively bonkers final third that boasts, among other things, science-fiction-inspired happenings – with the picture ultimately cementing its place as a decidedly erratic yet undeniably ambitious piece of work.

**1/2 out of ****