Iris Hever made this video in honour of Yaacov Shabtay's book Past Perfect that describes a process of existential crisis. At First puts itself in the position of a man, but no-one in particular, of about sixty, in a city that is no-where in particular. He is the prototype and individual at the same time: a pair of glasses, a telephone conversation, a photo make him specific, but we never get to see his face or that of his wife. You realize that there are hundreds of thoUSAnds of that sort of nameless men, trapped in their daily routine, With a lot of time to think about things, Thanks to their early retirement. His wife's remarks are worn down to clichés and her concern is taken as much for granted as the wallpaper on the walls of his prison. "Don't play with your health", she says and his physical complaints begin to take on obsessive forms. He still would like to see something of the world, now they have the chance, but she doesn't want to go anywhere. They gave up sex a long time ago, but he can think about practically nothing else. Paralysed by the inevitability of decay and the frustrations of unfulfilled dreams, he sits in his easy chair. A walk round the block or a trip in the car provide little relief. Then his wife dies and for a while, anything seems possible. He travels, alone, to Amsterdam, the tulips, the canals and the whores. Oh to be an Italian, or a poet! But he can't leave the path that he started on so long ago, the rut is grooved too deeply. If it is God's will, will he get the chance to chase his dreams in a future life? No, even God has to abide by the laws of nature. You can't mess about with life, his wife warned him. "Don't play with it", she had said. "It will get lost".
– Lies Holtrop
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Camera Matti Harari, Camera assistant Galit Sasson, Editing Iris Hever, Eyal Elkabets, Dor Yuval, Gil Lipo, With Michal Eizenberg, Ofer Bareket, Giora Rubin, Shulamit Ben-Shalom, voicemen Hannan Hever, Dan Sessler, Hara Karavan, Gabi Hashdi, Shlomo Bresler, Sharon Ramer, Thanks to Department of Cinema & TV Tel Aviv University, Special thanks to Edna Shabtay
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