The Ballad of Weeping Spring (Benny Toraty, 2012): Israel

Reviewed by Jacob Dekker.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013.

It seems the only movies that make it stateside from Israel are political films.  Films that bring issues to light, and inform the world about what is going in and around Israel.  The Ballad of Weeping Spring is not one of these films, and that is what makes this film a breathe of fresh air.  While it does have many faults it’s light-hearted sense of adventure makes it easy for one to see through these.

The Ballad of Weeping Springs is about a young man trying to grant his father’s dying wish.  With very little backstory, the son sets out to find his father’s old bandmates to play one last song for him before he passes away.  Throughout his travels he becomes acquainted with an interesting and distinct cast of characters that agree to help him put on this final performance for his father.  As the film continues questions are answered and backstories are explained in hopes to thicken the plot.

The first thing to note is the music.  The music is very unique, and it fits the film very well.  If you go into this film with the mindset that you are about to watch a very long music video chances are you will most-likely enjoy it.  The comedic and diverse cast of characters add to the atmosphere of the film, but unfortunately the film’s plot falls short.  Basically the whole film the son is searching for band members to play music for his father.  At first it is interesting, but it gets old fast.

The writing was pretty bland as well.  As soon as the film starts to lose momentum, which was frequently, the writers would throw in some very cliqued plot twists that most viewers will see coming from a mile away.  At one point the band leaves the band frontman, played by Uri Gavriel, behind because they simply thought he wanted out of the band.  That would have been fine if they made him out to be uninterested in the band, but he was obviously the most passionate of the lot.  The entire band leaves him behind without a second thought, and when he finally does catch up with them the characters, Gavriel included, act like it never happened.  There is some conflict in the film between the band and a traveler they somehow run into at every stop they make, but very little was explained about this man.  For putting a lot of emphasis on this man, he really did not do much to advance the plot.

While this sounds like a lot of complaints I would not call The Ballad of Weeping Springs a bad film.  It does get some things right like the tone, the cinematography, and a great soundtrack.