(l-r) co-writer Rutu Modan, actress Rivka Michaeli and co-writer/director Dana Modan. Photo: Yaron Scharf
From her 14th floor apartment terrace in Tel Aviv, actress, comedian and TV talk show host, Rivka Michaeli is giving me a panoramic tour of the vibrant city that never sleeps. It’s late at night when we speak but the 87-year- old venerated celebrity is as sharp and funny as ever.
“The Property actually started as a graphic novel written in 2013 by award-winning comics writer, Rutu Modan and I read it ten years ago. Because my parents were in Israel, I had no personal connection to Poland and the diaspora. It’s really Rutu and her sister Dana’s story. They co-wrote the screenplay together and Dana directed the film,” Rivka explains. “Coincidentally, I’ve known Dana from a very early age as she was in kindergarten with my daughter.”
The film is inspired by the sisters’ father and his true-life encounters living in Warsaw prior to WWII. The plot revolves around a grandmother (played by Rivka) and her granddaughter Mika (actress Sharon Strimban) who travel to Poland to try to reclaim the deed to an apartment building owned by their family and confiscated by the Nazis. Several twists of fate and a lot of bureaucracy ensure a surprising and somewhat mysterious adventure.
“I had to learn Polish for my lines and I worked with two teachers and although I thought I knew the lines, when the camera was on me I’d say the first line then forget the second one. I always had someone to practice with but still I had to polish my Polish!” Rivka laughs. She reminisces about her co-star, Polish actor Andrzej Seweryn (but without giving away spoilers.) “When we went into a restaurant together everyone was looking at him because he’s a very famous actor in Poland and Europe. It was so nice to know I was with a star and we always got a good table!”
Victoria sculptor and niece of actress Rivka Michaeli, Tanya Bub. Photo: Tanya Bub
“All the indoor segments of the film were shot in Tbilisi, Georgia and all the outside shots were filmed in Warsaw so I opened a door in Tbilisi and I was suddenly in Warsaw,” she laughs. “I felt very good in Georgia because my father came from there and I know a few words.”
In a fascinating coincidence, Rivka is the aunt of Victoria driftwood, wire and paper sculptor, Tanya Bub. “I was in Victoria about 10 years ago and met with her and my sister-in-law, Ronit. I have two little birds Tanya made. It’s a beautiful city,” Rivka exclaims. “And more recently, we all met from three continents in Madrid for a Passover seder.”
Rivka has no plans to slow down. In fact, the day of our late night interview she relates a busy schedule currently performing in two different shows. “One is a travelling musical comedy from Metula to Eilat called Naomi and Norma and I play a tough old lady.” The other is a musical homage to her late artistic partner, the veteran actor, singer and winner of the Israel Prize for theatre, Yossi Banai.
“You know, what makes The Property so compelling is the combination of sadness and humour. That’s what makes it human.” Rifka affirms.
Laura Goldstein was an arts and sports publicist in Toronto for 30 years, and writes for national magazines and newspapers. She moved to Vancouver and then Victoria to avoid shovelling snow. http://lauragoldsteinwriter.com
(l-r) Director, Ken Scott, Roland Perez and Jonathan Cohen Photo courtesy Roland Perez
Speaking from Paris, author, lawyer and grandpèreto newborn grandson Aleph, Roland Perez is exuberant. He’s describing the “crazy adventure” of how the film, Once Upon My Mother based upon his life story,came to fruition.
When a friend of Roland gave his book manuscript for My Mother, God and Sylvie Vartan to the French film, production and distribution company Gaumont just before its publication, it set in motion a series of serendipitous events.
“Gaumont called me the very next day for a meeting and said to me ‘trust us, we want to option your book and make a fantastic movie like the one we produced inspired by Canadian singer, Celine Dion because her mother is like the mother in your book!’” Roland relates. “At the beginning they looked for a French director, but everyone was busy. They happened to go to a film festival in France where Canadian director, Ken Scott was receiving a prize and Gaumont told him he must do this film. Ken said he had to go back to Canada but asked them to send the book to his agent. But the day after, he caught Covid and couldn’t fly back so he was stuck in France and read the manuscript while convalescing. He said immediately, ‘I want to make this movie!’”
Set in 1960s France, the story revolves around a Jewish immigrant family living in the suburbs of Paris. Roland, the youngest is born with a clubfoot. His mother Esther, played by the sensational Algerian French actress, Leïla Bekhti, is told by doctors that her child will never walk.
That edict was like flashing a red flag in front of a bull. Esther refuses to accept his disability and does everything in her power to ensure Roland lives a normal life to the point of deluding herself. Her obsession with his well- being lingers into his adulthood and becomes a suffocating embrace.
“You know my mother lived in a different reality because as the youngest of six I had to be exactly like the other children. But she needed this unrealistic expectation in order to fight for me,” Roland confides. “I had three operations and a splint attached to a corset for 18 months,” he continues. “And frankly, I liked the attention, I liked to crawl like a baby on the floor in the apartment, I was happy like that.”
“So all I did all day long was watch television and my older sister was fascinated by a famous French singer and actress, Sylvie Vartan. (hence the title of the book.) She became my idol and ironically I met her when I was an adult and we became friends.”
The casting for the role of Esther was a no-brainer: “We all, all, all including Ken Scott, wanted Leïla Bekhti because she is from Algeria and my mother was from Morocco and you know if you saw a photo of my mother when she was young, the resemblance was incredible,” says Roland who was the consultant on the film. “But after a few weeks of no response and her agent didn’t even read the script to convince her, we thought we’d have to look for someone else. Meantime Leïla invited another actor for dinner and the manuscript was sitting on the table. He said ‘at least read the first page and see.’ So she went into another room and came out and said ‘I’m reading the role of my life!’”
“She in turn told a friend of hers ‘to read the script’ and that was Jonathan Cohen who ended up playing me as an adult,” laughs Roland. The delightful and compelling little boy, Naim Naji, who portrays Roland as a child had never acted before.
Roland, who is a lawyer specializing in intellectual property and in practice with his daughter, Ludivine, has written a third book that has already been optioned for a film. Once Upon My Motherhas been sold to 55 countries including Israel. “We asked Canada to submit the film for Oscar consideration but unfortunately, we just found out that it wasn’t chosen,” he confirms.
“You know, he adds, “I think this film is very inspirational on so many levels and you wouldn’t believe all the people who have since written to me who have a child with a clubfoot.”
Laura Goldstein was an arts and sports publicist in Toronto for 30 years, and writes for national magazines and newspapers. She moved to Vancouver and then Victoria to avoid shovelling snow. http://lauragoldsteinwriter.com
