YOSSI AND JAGGER ( Israeli )

Short but sweet. Set against the surreal snow-covered backdrop of an Isreali army outpost, we meet some very real and contemporary characters. Compulsory military service throws together all sorts of young men and women. In this case they are also crammed into claustrophic underground bunkers, but good humour seems to reign, as they all make the best of a bad situation. Some fraternise more than others, and "Jagger" (who thankfully is much easier on the eye than his rocker nick-namesake) has a pretty good thing going with his affable superior officer. Yossi is a career soldier and of course, this being the army, neither man has control over his own destiny. My only complaint of this movie is that I would like to have seen more. The Winter uniforms cover all that prime beefcake for most of the time, and the brief encounter may have been lengthened a bit. Perhaps with a little insight as to how the relationship developed in the first place, under what are after all, fairly unusual circumstances. However, the characters do all feel very real, and it is a pleasure to share this small time and space with them.