Yossi VeJager (2002)

English Title: Yossi & Jagger

Language: Hebrew                                                           

Of late, I have been picking up gay oriented movies. Nothing intentional, just seems like the pattern is in the air. When you start watching some of the most amazing gay oriented movies, you will soon be adding Yossi & Jagger to your list. Why so? Because it is definitely a well-made movie. The other reason I decided to watch this movie was because it brings together again the director-actor combination - Ohad Knoller and the director Eytan Fox (of "The Bubble" fame)

This movie is set on a war background. That might immediately lead you to think that the movie is going to be a serious one. On the contrary, the movie manages to start and stay on a light note. The characters are all young men and women (Israel requires a mandatory military service from their youth) They laugh, crack jokes, share great friendship and deal with the ordeal of war in a not-so-serious way.

Yossi is the Commander of the squad, very tough, manly guy. He develops an affair with Jagger who is the cutest, the most lively officer. Yossi desperately tries to keep the affair a secret which is difficult as they spend their days and nights amongst the squad. Yossi wants to stay in the closet for reasons that are not shown in the movie and Jagger wants to come out open. There is different wants and needs in the relationship and you begin to wonder how its going to end. There is no crying or drama. The ending is particularly sad but not new to the world of cinema.

The movie shows gay love in an esthetical way and you soon forget that they are both men. Couple of scenes were strikingly brilliant. I loved the scenes where Yossi takes dessert to Jagger. You can tell how much he wants to be with Jagger and how enchanted he is by Jagger. Ohad's smile is so genuine. Another scene that I thought was very powerful was when Yossi looks at Jagger’s album and spots him in the rabbit costume. Ohad's expression was exactly how I reacted when they show the picture.

The movie is only 63 minutes long. The movie explores all the other characters in a subtle way, so there is a lot of variety. In fact, there are only 4 or 5 scenes with Yossi and Jagger together. Instead of calling it a love story, I would call it as a documentary about lives of young army team. Yossi and Jagger just happen to be a part of it. Once you let the characters unfold, you will soon be laughing with them and crying with them.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.