Walk on Water (film)

ללכת על המים (aka Walk on Water)
File:Walk on Water (2004 film).jpg
Directed by	Eytan Fox
Written by	Gal Uchovsky
Produced by	Amir Harel
Starring	Lior Ashkenazi Knut Berger Caroline Peters Gideon Shemer Carola Regnier
Cinematography	Tobias Hochstein
Edited by	Yosef Grunfeld
Music by	Ivri Lider
Distributed by	Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC (USA theatrical)
Release date	18 March 2004 (2004-03-18)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Israel
Languages	English German Hebrew
Box office	$4.44 million

Walk on Water (original Hebrew title: ללכת על המים; English transliteration: Lalekhet Al HaMayim) is a 2004 Israeli spy thriller film directed by Eytan Fox and starring Lior Ashkenazi, Knut Berger, and Caroline Peters. The screenplay was written by Gal Uchovsky. Most of the dialogue is in English, although there is much in Hebrew and German. Its name derives in part from Jesus' walking on water.

Plot

Eyal is an agent in Mossad, the Israeli security service. He is a hitman who targets enemies of Israel. His wife has recently committed suicide, and the agency decides that he needs to take on a less challenging assignment: to find an aging Nazi war criminal. In order to track down the old man, Eyal poses as a tour guide and befriends the Nazi's adult grandchildren, Axel and Pia. Pia lives on a kibbutz, an Israeli commune. Her brother Axel visits her in order to convince Pia to return to Germany for their father's seventieth birthday. It is later revealed that Pia's estrangement from her parents began when she discovered that they were hiding her grandfather. She shares this information with Axel. Although he has a job to perform, Eyal truly befriends Axel and Pia. They spend time together and Eyal enjoys himself. Eyal arrives at Axel's house and enters the grandfather's room. Axel sneaks up behind him and watches as he fills a syringe with poison, doing nothing to intervene. Eyal is unable to fulfill the task and leaves. Axel tenderly caresses his grandfather's face before turning off his oxygen tank, killing him. He goes to Eyal's room, where Eyal tells him that the suicide note his wife wrote told him that he kills everything that comes near him. Eyal says that he does not want to kill anymore and breaks down in Axel's arms. The story jumps ahead 2 years. Eyal and Pia are married with a child and living on the Kibbutz. Eyal and Axel remain good friends.

Main characters

• Eyal, a Mossad agent (Lior Ashkenazi)
• Axel Himmelman, a young German man (Knut Berger)
• Pia Himmelman, Axel's sister, who lives on an Israeli kibbutz (Caroline Peters)
• Menachem, Eyal's boss (Gideon Shemer)
• Rafik, a young Palestinian man with whom Axel has sex (Yousef Sweid)

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack included a rendition of the classic Esther and Avi Ofarim hit "Cinderella Rockefella" sung by Rita Kleinstein and Ivri Lider, as well as a remix of Lider's "Mary La'Netzach" ("Mary Forever").

Release history

Walk on Water premiered on February 5, 2004, at the Berlin International Film Festival. It opened in Israel on March 18, 2004. It was first shown in the United States on October 24, 2004, at the Milwaukee International Film Festival. It opened in limited release in American theatres on March 4, 2005.

Awards and nominations

Awards of the Israeli Film Academy (2004)

Won

• Best Music - Ivri Lider
• Best Music, Original Song - Ivri Lider
• Best Sound - Gil Toren (tie)

Nominated

• Best Film
• Best Actor - Lior Ashkenazi
• Best Director - Eytan Fox
• Best Screenplay - Gal Uchovsky
• Best Cinematography - Tobias Hochstein
• Best Editing - Yosef Grunfeld

France's César Awards (2006)

• Nominated for best foreign film

External links

• Walk on Water at IMDb