Death of Shula
2007 · 24m · Israel
Directed by Asaf Korman
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
Yossi drives the body of Shula, the family dog put down because of a tumor, on the roof of his car to bury her in the dunes; he has planned a family farewell picnic, but neither his wife nor his children come, and he faces the goodbye alone.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's a grief film, sure, but Korman refuses the expected beats—no catharsis, no family reconciliation, just a man and a dead dog and the sting of absence. The real subversion is how tender it stays while demolishing sentiment.
A formally restrained meditation on mourning that locates itself squarely in the tradition of European art cinema's small-scale domestic tragedy; Korman's compositional patience and the deliberate withholding of emotional release mark this as a work of considered craft.
The decision to keep the family absent—to let Yossi bury Shula alone while we watch him prepare the picnic nobody attends—transforms what could be maudlin into something quietly devastating; it's a single structural choice that makes the whole thing work.
Reviews
Sa mise en abîme, son sens du cadre, son montage raffiné, son image sombre, sa pudeur, et la fragilité du père, celui du réalisateur (également comédien) en font toute sa force. On aurait peine à croire qu'un étudiant se cache derrière ce film d'une grande maturité, et pourtant, c'est le cas.