When stage actor Michael York learns of the death of his estranged father out of the blue a year later, you want to leave his home in Budapest to go to Israel to meet his stepmother (Liv Ullman), and after several troublesome encounters, they begin to commiserate over their shared loss and slowly develop feelings for each other. Ullman, who is York's age, expresses the reasons she was in love with his father, and he gets to see through movies what they shared. York considers remaining around when he is offered a job to play his own father in a movie, and that complicates things in the growing romance with Ullman who obviously feels conflicted over her feelings.
The stars and the locations are reason enough to watch this quiet, subtle movie, taking the viewer from Hungary to israel, down the streets of historic Jerusalem and into the countryside where a lot of biblical stories took place. That in itself is profound, and the sequences helps the viewer get to know the character of the late father. York plays both father and son and is brilliant, and Ullman creates another wonderful character to sink her teeth into.
As they were two of the biggest stars of the 1970's (co-starring together in the musical version of "Lost Horizon"), it's nice to see them working together in a more romantic way. York's main character isn't always really likeable, but I found that element of his part to be quite realistic. Ava Haddad is good in a supporting role as the friendly flight attendant he chats with on the plane and later meets on the ground. Maybe not the most gregarious of movies, but a nice sleeper with two stars whose work I've always greatly admired.
The stars and the locations are reason enough to watch this quiet, subtle movie, taking the viewer from Hungary to israel, down the streets of historic Jerusalem and into the countryside where a lot of biblical stories took place. That in itself is profound, and the sequences helps the viewer get to know the character of the late father. York plays both father and son and is brilliant, and Ullman creates another wonderful character to sink her teeth into.
As they were two of the biggest stars of the 1970's (co-starring together in the musical version of "Lost Horizon"), it's nice to see them working together in a more romantic way. York's main character isn't always really likeable, but I found that element of his part to be quite realistic. Ava Haddad is good in a supporting role as the friendly flight attendant he chats with on the plane and later meets on the ground. Maybe not the most gregarious of movies, but a nice sleeper with two stars whose work I've always greatly admired.