Book Club

 

 

 (imdb)

MADAME YANELOVA'S FINE LITERATURE CLUB-2017-I didn't know what to expect from this Israeli production with Hebrew dialogue. It's interesting but nothing special. Librarian Sophie belongs to a secret book club. Once a week she must attend a reading party accompanied by a man she picks up. All the other members must do the same. After the reading the men are bound and examined. The woman who brings the best man is given an award. Then the men are killed and made into hot dogs and sold nearby. If Sophie gets one more win, she will have hundred awards and be elevated to an upper echelon of the club. It's getting more difficult to achieve this as she gets older. She also has competition from the younger stuck up snob Lola. When her friend Hannah, a cleaning woman at the club, runs away, Sophie is put under surveillance by Reiza, one of the older decrepit women in charge. At the library one day Sophie meets Joseph who is interested in the works of Agnon on who Sophie is an expert. Eventually they seem to fall in love but all isn't as it seems. 

This seems like it would turn into a real horror movie but never does. It's more like some Kafkaesque mystery romance. It's alright but I was disappointed with the direction it took and the resolution. This was the debut film of Venezuelan born director Guilhad Emilio Schenker.

Thanks for reading!