Naomi

Venice (International Critics' Week) – An act of madness by a jealous husband threatens to destroy everything he has spent his life working for, as well as his hopes for the future. That is, unless he can cover up his misdeed. Paul Martin tries to find out where the bodies are buried.

A corpse requiring disposal. Close shaves as a route to that disposal is sought. The crime seemingly gotten away with – only for it to later resurface like some recurring nightmare. Oh-so familiar noir touchstones, which would seem stale as a week-old loaf were they deployed in their familiar settings of New York or Los Angeles. However when given fresh geographical context, as they are in Eitan Zur's debut feature, Naomi, new life flows into these apparent clichés. With the transposition to the north of Israel of the wizened narrative of sexual envy leading to murder, Zur has fashioned a tale that feels original and will serve as a suitable 'Jewish noir' stopgap till the Coen Brothers bring us their adaptation of Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

Adapted by author and playwright Edna Mazia from her own novel, Naomi is not so much the story of its title character – an attractive 28-year-old aspiring artist, played by Melanie Peres – as it is of her much older husband, Ilan (Yossi Pollak, an actor with a voice of quite extraordinarily bass-y register). On the surface Ilan would appear to pretty much have it all; a famous scientist based at the Technion, the internationally-respected Israeli science institute situated in the port city of Haifa, he is recognised for his TV appearances and has a new book in the works. And he is married to the vivacious Naomi, who his forthright mother, Ketty (Orna Porat), might disparage as “eye candy”, but to whom the rotund boffin is utterly devoted.

He is also growing increasingly paranoid about their relationship, these doubts being fostered when he returns home early from work one day and finds her absent. Though she eventually shows up again, with the seemingly innocuous excuse of having been with a friend the whole time, the seed of suspicion has been planted in Ilan's prodigious mind, and he is soon trailing her car out of town to an isolated seaside house, where his worst fears are confirmed as he observes her in a compromising clinch with a man far younger than he.

Despite his mother urging him to let the affair run its own course, Ilan cannot resist attempting to precipitate a confrontation, the opportunity for this duly arriving when he intercepts a text intended for his wife from her lover. He engineers an encounter between the three of them at the restaurant his rival - a cocky artist named Oded (Rami Heuberger) – had intended as rendezvous point for he and Naomi; the scientist issuing an unspoken challenge to the duo that he is aware of their antics. But when this tactic appears to backfire and Naomi informs him she will be absent from the city overnight, he rashly rushes over to the beach house to confront her and Oded. To his surprise she is not there, though his arrogant adversary is and in the mood to goad Ilan. The face-off is curtailed by a spontaneous act of violence, an unusual assault that would make Sherlock Holmes in particular wince. It is a moment both tense and blackly humorous, and leaves the good doctor with a body on his hands.

Aside from the novelty of this type of plotline unfolding against the backdrop provided by Haifa, great interest is offered by the main characters. Naomi herself may be less than fascinating, there being precious few surprises lurking under the pretty exterior, but Ilan and the elderly mother to whom he almost pathetically clings are much more interesting, they sharing a relationship more complex and intriguing than is immediately obvious. Demonstrating reserves of strength and ruthlessness her son has clearly not inherited, Ketty's role veers between that of stoic aide and near-villainess, with revelations about her past setting up a surprise conclusion of arguable morality.

Zur's movie is further boosted by uniformly good performances from the cast, and the flaws that are present – such as the police take an implausibly lengthy time indeed in getting around to talking to Ilan, even when they have clear evidence linking him to the murder victim – are relatively minor, and do very little to detract from the substantial merits of Naomi.

Rating on a scale of 5 nebbish noirs: 4

Release date: TBC
Directed by: Eitan Zur
Screenplay by: Edna Mazia, based on her novel
Cast: Yossi Pollak, Melanie Peres, Orna Porat, Rami Heuberger
Cert: TBC
Running Time: 102 minutes

More on IndieMovies:
Read the latest movie news and movie reviews. Keep up-to-date with the latest from the Venice Film Festival 2010. Watch free movies on the site now.