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A Tale of Love and Darkness

Name: A Tale of Love and Darkness
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Released: August 19, 2016
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Natalie Portman

2016

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Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critics

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	Your Score
5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Ratings

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A Tale Of Love And Darkness (US)

Movie Details & Credits

Focus World | Release Date: August 19, 2016 | PG-13

Starring: Natalie Portman

Summary: Based on Amos Oz's international best-seller, A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of Oz's youth at the end of the British Mandate for Palestine and the early years of the State of Israel. The film details young Amos' relationship with his mother (Natalie Portman) and his birth as a writer, looking at what happens when the stories weBased on Amos Oz's international best-seller, A Tale of Love and Darkness is the story of Oz's youth at the end of the British Mandate for Palestine and the early years of the State of Israel. The film details young Amos' relationship with his mother (Natalie Portman) and his birth as a writer, looking at what happens when the stories we tell, become the stories we live.… Expand

Director: Natalie Portman

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, History

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

Kenneth Turan

Aug 18, 2016

Actors gravitate toward passion projects, films they care deeply, even obsessively about, but the end result is hardly ever as convincing as A Tale of Love and Darkness a film of beautiful melancholy. Read full review

Bill Zwecker

Aug 25, 2016

While A Tale of Love and Darkness is often difficult to watch — because of all the sadness it presents — it is also a beautiful film in that it makes us think about existing in a world where we do not completely fit in. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Aug 18, 2016

There are many lovely and memorable moments in this film, which is in every way the opposite of a vanity project. If anything, Ms. Portman seems constrained by her own modesty, by a justified but nonetheless limiting reverence for her source material. Read full review

Andrew Pulver

May 22, 2015

Portman has made a film with something serious and interesting to say about Israel, a nuanced portrait of the place that demonstrates a commitment to, and connection with, her home country. This is an assured, heartfelt debut. Read full review

Mike D'Angelo

Aug 17, 2016

Portman’s emotional connection to the material couldn’t be more obvious, yet the film itself is still largely inert. Read full review

Tim Grierson

May 22, 2015

An overly self-conscious somberness infuses the film, keeping this heartrending tale from being as poignant as it could be. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Aug 25, 2016

A Tale of Love and Darkness is a dead film, an eminently worthy corpse. Read full review

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User Reviews

BrocodesRu

Dec 4, 2017

Brocodes.ru — это сервис, на страницах которого собраны множество промокодов, скидкок и акций российских и зарубежных интернет-магазинов и сервисов. Сервис сотрудничает с большим количеством интернет-магазинов и несколькими Кэшбэк сервисами, что обеспечивает большой выбор скидок и акций вBrocodes.ru — это сервис, на страницах которого собраны множество промокодов, скидкок и акций российских и зарубежных интернет-магазинов и сервисов. Сервис сотрудничает с большим количеством интернет-магазинов и несколькими Кэшбэк сервисами, что обеспечивает большой выбор скидок и акций в рамках одного сайта. Команда сервиса ставит перед собой задачу обеспечить покупателям наибольший выбор скидок среди наибольшего количества интернет-магазинов.… Expand

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Brent_Marchant

Sep 5, 2016

A gorgeously filmed, sincerely related story of love, hope, despair and disappointment set against the backdrop of the birth of Israel as an independent state. While the film gets many aspects of this story right, there are times when the writing comes up short, not always pulling thingsA gorgeously filmed, sincerely related story of love, hope, despair and disappointment set against the backdrop of the birth of Israel as an independent state. While the film gets many aspects of this story right, there are times when the writing comes up short, not always pulling things together as effectively as it could. Still, there's enough genuine, heartfelt emotion here to move the audience and overcome the film's failings.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

GreatMartin

Aug 28, 2016

When you walk out of a theatre shaking your head and asking yourself, “What was that all about?” a few questions follow such are you so dense you can’t follow the plot of a movie? Or was source material so unreliable? Was the screenwriter just not up to the job or was it the fault of theWhen you walk out of a theatre shaking your head and asking yourself, “What was that all about?” a few questions follow such are you so dense you can’t follow the plot of a movie? Or was source material so unreliable? Was the screenwriter just not up to the job or was it the fault of the director? The actors and were interesting to look at and listen to even if you weren’t able to follow the story. Was it the fault of the director? The script? Or?????

Natalie Portman stars in “A Tale of Love and Darkness”. Natalie Portman directed “A Tale of Love and Darkness”, her first attempt as a director. Natalie Portman wrote the screenplay for “A Tale of Love and Darkness”, which is the third she has done. Did she take on too much? I am sure there wouldn’t have been funding for the film if she didn’t star in it and many actors want to direct but I think in this case she should have let the screenplay to someone else. Maybe the author, Amos Oz, of the book it is based on, an autobiography of when he was a child, wasn’t available, just didn’t want to do it or Portman felt so deeply about the story she felt she had to write it.

We don’t know if the story is being told from the mother’s point of view or maybe the son, an old man now looking back at his childhood or even the young boy himself. Is it a story about the mother and son’s relationship? Or the mother, father and son‘s relationship? Is it about the mother’s illness? Or the fantasy land she inhabits? Is it about the birth of Israel in 1947 and/or the relationships between Arabs and Jews? Is it about the cruelty inflected on the mother by her own mother or the disdain her mother-in-law shows her? A couple of her fantasies, stories that she tells her son, are cruel, while others involve a handsome hero who plays all sorts of roles in her life. Is it about all these things or none of them? With all the above there is not enough emotion to involve the audience with one exception involving the mother in a scene unaware that her son is watching.

Portman, the actress, as the mother Fania, Amir Tessler as the 8 year old son Amos, with the exception of a couple of scenes, Gilad Kahana, as the intellectual academic father Arieh, Moni Moshonov, as the old Amos, are all competently directed by Natalie Portman the director as is the ‘handsome hero’ played by Tomer Kapon. She does have a few missteps with Tessler but whether that is her fault as a director or his as a young actor is hard to tell.

“A Tale of Love and Darkness” is a film I can only recommend you see so that you can tell me what it was/is about.… Expand

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