Infiltration

Nearly a decade ago, Kosashvili had a festival hit – and, unusual for an Israeli film, a UK release – with the excellent ‘Late Marriage’. A couple of features later, he’s back on our screens with this boot-camp comedy-drama set in 1956, with a motley crew of physically, mentally and emotionally unfit conscripts being trained up – seldom very successfully – to defend Israel from its neighbours. Political primarily in its astute allusions to differences between Jews from the diaspora, the movie initially suffers from weak, near-stereotypical characterisation and limp gags, but gathers momentum as it proceeds into a deeper grasp of individuals’ needs and motives. Could be funnier, could be darker, but it’s undoubtedly worth sticking with.