Metallic Blues

When Shmuel and Siso, two hapless used-car dealers in Israel, stumble on the chance to buy a spotless, blue 1985 Lincoln Continental limousine for $5,000, they figure their luck has finally turned. All they need to do is ship the classic beauty to Germany, sell it to a collector and return as heroes with a handsome profit. So begins this offbeat, funny and touching buddy movie that brings together the irrepressible Avi Kushner (a noted Israeli stand-up comedian) and sad-sack Moshe Ivgy on a road trip from hell. Ivgy plays diminutive Siso, a Moroccan Jew with family obligations, who is suspicious of the scheme and queasy about traveling to the land of the Holocaust. His friend Shmuel, a shmoozer who can bluster his way into (though not always out of) any situation, is the child of Holocaust survivors and long ago turned the page on that history. For him, Germany is the ultimate modern European marketplace, its sleek airports and posh hotels the stuff of consumer dreams. The adventures of these two schlemiels as their plan unravels will test their friendship, and bring up unexpected emotions about the Jewish past in Germany, as well. The film is written and directed with wit and heart by Danny Verete (Yellow Asphalt, SFJFF 2002), who creates a unique triangular relationship between his marvelous co-stars and their magnificent obsession: that shiny blue car.

Danny Verete began his career as both a writer and director in 1981. He immediately received recognition for the 35-minute short "Wall Within a City" (1981). Verete teamed up with the director Daniel Waxman for "Hammsin" (1982). The film won an Israeli Oscar and Best Israeli Film of Decade and numerous other awards abroad. His first feature film is "Koko is 19" (1985). His second feature as a director, "Yellow Asphalt" (2000), was shown at several international festivals and won the special jury prize in Cologne.