Baba Joon (2015)

**Some farmers are not born farmers, they're made.**

The last Israel film I saw, I did not like much, but this time it is opposite. I liked this theme, about the farmers who are the feeders of the world and they're declining. But this film is not here to discuss about that topic, just a different angle tale like three different generations of the same family and theirs take on the family business, that means farming. It is every parent's duty to support their children, particularly if their kids shows more interest in something, they must not discourage it. This is a lovely film, especially coming from the Israel, because the film might be made in Israel, but its about the different ethnic people and the message was very bold.

This is a story of an Iranian farmer family of a young boy with his two parents and a grandfather living in the rural Israel. The father and boy has lots of differences, like the father is trying to build a future by extending his turkey farm for the boy. But the kid is different, he does not want to take over it, that's the right time his uncle arrives from the United States. Seems he's going to stay for a while, despite he's the one who escaped from this life for a better one. Meanwhile, he spots his nephew's talent and gives a full support, but the father and his father's insistence, the family loses its strength. So the rest of the narration is to focus whether the family patches their differences and fall back to happily ever after or if not, then what's going to happen.

A very inspiring film. The narration was not focused from one character, but kind of neutral. Sometimes, it was from the father's eye like how hard he works for his family. He was into farming because of no choice left after his brother abandoned him years back. Now his son is in the same battle as his brother was. Since he's the only child, he has no other option like his father. The rural kids too can dream big, but what this kid is interested in is merely a hobby in the eyes of his father. That's where the uncle comes in. If you ever had an uncle, probably most of you would know what I meant. Because I too was encouraged by mine. So I do understand what this boy is fighting for.

> "If you bend a branch too hard, it breaks."

Since it is a foreign film, I don't know anybody from this. Probably they're new faces, but theirs character executions were phenomenal. Everybody, all the main cast was so impressive. The credit must also go to the director who also wrote the screenplay. It was Israel's official entry for the 88th American Academy Awards in the best foreign film category, but did not make into the final five. Recently I have been watching some good rural based films and this is another great addition to my collection. This is not a masterpiece and we know that, but still there's a lot of reason why one should watch it.

I feel this kind of themes need a serious uplift by the viewers, because what this film revealed was not like any city based film with the plot that revolve around crime, thriller, mystery, but a pure drama. Being a farmer or born in a farmer family, what life they inherit, especially the question of how much they would be happy doing farming for their rest of the life. In urban, people change their professional field often, but that's not an option here for them. You can call this the Israel's 'October Sky', but the story lacked to concentrate more on the kid. Because they wanted a clean balance between all the film characters and also the message to deliver in a striking way. So the filmmakers did their best and also the actors, that's why the film received very well.

Not just for the children, but a good family film. In fact a film for everybody, I definitely suggest it. But there are some flaws like I know these days kids are very curious about learning new things, particularly in a practical way like tools in the hands. Though how this boy developed his skills remains a question. I mean hailing from a rural where he has less resources like you can say the books about his interested field or anyone who are in that field to inspire him or assist him. Initially we know that he's up to something, but then in a few minutes later he already mastered it. This is not a big deal, particularly in the films, so it does not affect to enjoy it or what it tells the society. There are many good reasons to watch this than to neglect it for its minor flaws. So I hope you watch it.

_8/10_