Jason goes to Jewfest South for THE FAREWELL PARTY

My second day at the film festival was actually a Monday, after skipping Sunday because I had seen or could see elsewhere all the movies that day.

THE FAREWELL PARTY is a moving and interesting Israeli geriatric tale. An elderly couple live in a retirement home, devoted to each other and to their friends. But a challenging decision threatens their happy lives. And let's be blunt about it--it's a terminally ill friend who wants help ending his life. Over here in California, we recently passed a right-to-die law after some controversy. I don't know the legal situation is Israel, but the moral situation is I'm sure equally complex. But the movie handles the decision, and the aftermath, with a rare mix of humor and pathos that is almost unheard of in American films but seems to find it's way pretty easily into any number of foreign films. And I like that. I wish American films would be as bold as this.

Running Time: 95 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,460