Noodle (film)

Noodle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ayelet Menahemi
Produced by	Assaf Amir Eitan Mansuri Elie Meirovitz Yoav Roeh
Written by	Shemi Zarhi Ayelet Menahemi
Starring	Mili Avital Chen Baoqi
Music by	Haim Frank Ilfman
Studio	Norma Productions EZ Films
Distributed by	EZ Films United King Films
Release date(s)	July 26, 2007 (Israel)
Running time	90 minutes (South Korea, 100 minutes)
Country	Israel
Language	Hebrew Some Mandarin Chinese

Noodle is an award-winning 2007 Israeli film directed by Ayelet Menahemi, written by Shemi Zarhin and Ayelet Menahemi, and starring Mili Avital, Chen Baoqi, and Alon Aboutboul.

Plot

When the Chinese woman working in Israel for Miri Kalderon, an Israeli flight attendant, is suddenly deported for overstaying her work visa, her lack of Hebrew-language skills makes it impossible for her to convince the Israeli authorities that she has a young child with her. Miri, twice-widowed because of the ongoing Arab-Israeli wars, has been going through the motions of living, somehow detached from a real connection to life itself. Her decision to help reunite the child—nicknamed "Noodle"—with his mother, now back in Beijing, ends up helping her, not just the boy and his mother, in ways Miri herself could not have expected.

Cast

Main cast

• Mili Avital (Miri Calderone)
• Chen Baoqi (Noodle)

Supporting characters

• Alon Aboutboul (Izzy Sason)
• Sinaya Ben-Dor (Ilana)
• Yiftach Klein (Mati Gueta)
• Daphna Shpigelman (Batya)
• Sarit Vino-Elad (Dafna)
• Anat Waxman (Gila Sason)
• Roni Yuria (Yaeli)

Awards

The film won the Best Supporting Actress Award from the Israeli Film Academy (Ophir Awards), and a Special Grand Prize of the Jury from the 2007 Montreal World Film Festival.^[1] It also won numerous other awards at film festivals throughout the United States and around the world, including the award for Best Feature Film Audience Choice Award at the 2010 Jersey Shore Film Festival.^[2]

The film was an official nominee for numerous Israeli Film Academy Awards, including Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Music, Best Screenplay, and Best Sound.^[1]

Critical responses

As one review put it, "This Israeli film about grief and loss surprisingly takes the form of a crowd pleaser."^[3] Other reviewers agreed, noting that films like Noodle are rare, combining great stories and performances with enough "heart" to involve the audience emotionally.^[4] Ultimately, as a review from the 18th annual Tucson Jewish Film Festival put it, "The film is a touching comic-drama of two human beings accompanying each other on a remarkable journey that takes them both back to a meaningful life."^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} IMDB.com awards.
2. ^ Jersey Shore Film Festival.
3. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, SMH.com, Paul Byrnes, Jun 24, 2009.
4. ^ Cross "Cultures: Australia's leading website for Entertainment News and Reviews."
5. ^ 18th annual Tucson Jewish Film Festival.

External links

• Movie review and trailer, "At the Movies," ABC.
• More complete list of awards and screenings at film festivals.