Something
about starting a film, images, reality and authenticity.
Ingmar Bergman R.I.P: "A beginning of a film, most of all, is like a brightly
colored thread sticking out of the dark sack of the unconscious. If I begin
to wind up this thread, and do it carefully, a complete film will emerge".
For me, it was the streets of Bombay who were filling up my subconscious
with colorful threads. I would see unusual situations and images, never
knowing when they would come my way, but soon realizing they would influence
my life, the way I see and respond to reality, and the way I would make
films.
A recurring theme in all my films is the perception of reality: The way
people apprehend reality and react to it. Israel is a country over saturated
by reality; not much space is left for imagination.
Israelis are reality addicts. This may account for why almost every young
Israeli goes through an escapism phase once completing his three years army
service: a trip to the Far East, starting in India. For most Israelis, India
has become part of their conscious; a process one goes through, shaping
one's cognition and self.
'Hypnotic Hell' - my film, interweaves three different kinds of realities:
The one of the tourist; the one of the Indian people, and finally, while
taking a look at India's own escapism - their huge film industry, creating
an utopian reality on the white screen. Nothing prepared me for Bombay.
One can tell you what a slap in the face means, but that's not the same
as actually getting one, is it?
Everything was unfamiliar in Bombay. The smell, the colour of the air, the
sound, the people, the language, the sun light, the streets. Everything.
There are quite a few filmmakers who feel the camera protects them, shielding
them from their subjects.
Since I was after an intimate look into the lives and reality of India,
I felt as if the camera was emphasizing me being an outsider, someone who
looks upon, which could easily be seen as criticizing. And that only added
to the feeling of alienation, of culture shock.
Culture shock is a very difficult feeling to describe. How do you express,
in a visual language, fear, alienation, discomfort? Once I was able to define
the force behind these feelings, I was able to find the Image I was looking
for: 'the Unknown Coming Out of the Dark.'
In my film-making, and throughout "Hypnotic Hell", there's s a quest for
authenticity. As a tourist in a foreign land one may at first encounter
"tourist attractions & traps": The elephants, the cobra, the fortune
tellers. But as one gets rid of ones fears and inhibitions, one may find
oneself in more authentic situations, becoming an integral part of the place.
The culmination of the quest for authenticity in 'Hypnotic Hell', is "The
girl who Sings". And when we finally meet her, we know: The quest has come
to it's resolution. This girl is part of the street, the people, the music,
but on the other hand she has to sing for a living, exemplifying the
silent cry of the people of India which the world doesn't hear.
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Hypnotic
Hell 
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