面包

This is the first of 5 excellent films made by Ram Loevy for television.This one's a superb realistic drama that felt like a punch in the belly when it was broadcast, shedding light on a far, forgotten town populated by jews who emigrated from Arab countries.It's similar in tone and style to some of Ken Loach's better films, so it comes highly recommended. The film tells the story of a Job-like character, Shlomo Elmaliach (played by Rami Danon), who loses his job at his town's local bakery when it is forced to close. Rather than join the other unemployed protesters, Elmaliach locks himself in his home and launches a very personal hunger strike. At first people come to visit him at home, and there's even a rumor that television reporters might show up (quickly dismissed by Elmaliach's friend Zaguri, "They only come when there's a ruckus.") Gradually, even Elmaliach's friends abandon him, and he ends up dragging his family down with him. A son (played by Moshe Ivgy) seeks radical solutions to poverty, a daughter (played by Etti Ankri) who escaped to Tel Aviv to study returns home and takes a job on a production line,and Elmaliach's wife (played by Rivka Bechar) takes a job as a seamstress. At the end of the film, the factory is reopened as a result of all the protests, but by then it is too late for Shlomo Elmaliach.