Yossi & Jagger

Plot synopsis:
Yossi (Ohad Knoller) commands a company of soldiers in the snow-covered mountains near Lebanon. In secrecy, he leads a passionate romantic relationship with his second-in-command officer, Lior (Yehuda Levi), who is called Jagger by everyone for his rock star-like handsomeness and his lip-syncing Mick Jagger. The pair, Yossi and Jagger, lead a loving, yet secret life together, venturing off to be alone and open with one another.
One day, a colonel (Sharon Raginiano) arrives at the base with two female soldiers, one of whom he immediately sleeps with in the bunker. The other one, Yaeli (Aya Koren, credited as Aya Steinovitz), is very interested in Jagger, while she refuses the sexual advances of Ofir (Asi Cohen), who tries to make clear to her that Jagger is not particularly interested in her.
The colonel is there to supervise a night-time ambush, of which Yossi is resentful because of the full moon, and also because he fears for his soldiers' safety. And indeed Jagger is fatally injured that night, dying in the arms of his lover, who only now is able to articulate his love for him.
At the funeral reception at Jagger's parents' house, Jagger's mother mistakes Yaeli for his girlfriend. She laments that she knew very little about her son, including his favorite song, which only Yossi is able to tell her was "Bo" sung by Rita. The song was also sung by Ivri Lider.

Tags: tragedy, romantic, sentimental

Review:
It also cemented the fact that all you need for a truly moving film is (no kidding!) a good story, good characters, good acting (not stars hamming it and ISO of an Oscar - gag), good cinematography, a good script with good dialogue and good direction.
I'm not a big fan of handheld camera cinema verite BS, but there is a scene in which it really does work to great effect: Yossi & Jagger having a playful snowball fight, putting down their weapons, laughing like kids, having a blast.There are just a few select locations, and a small ensemble of actors and that's all that's needed.
Music is used to great effect, not giving us cues as to when we're supposed to cry and when we're supposed to laugh, but is instead perfectly weaved into the story fabric as when Jagger (so named because he has rock star charisma and looks) changes the words to a pop song and singing not in the rain, but the snow.The two actresses and their male colleagues are all young (except the Colonel character, a big beefy macho guy) and very impressive.
How I wish that we would see actors like this instead of the bore-me-to-death Hollywood stars.This is also an incredibly sexy film with looks and unspoken words that are more erotic than anything that's coming out of Hollywood where the stunt-butts and stunt-boops in flattering light and every bump and grind choreographed to death have the unintended and complete opposite effect on me, namely laughter and/or yawning.
The scene with Yossi & Jagger kissing in the snow is the most tender AND sexy I have seen in ages, and the gender of the participants is completely irrelevant.
Watch this film and you'll never be able to watch products off the Hollywoodassembly line again in the same way.Oh, and did I mention that Yehudi Levi (born 1979) who plays Jagger is unbelievably to-die-for-gorgeous with a 1000 watt charisma and a sweetness that makes you want to hug him, after you kiss him all over?
Straight women and gay men, beware - he will break your heart.Hope we get to see him and some of the other cast members in other films, but if Hollywood comes calling Yehudi - give 'em the finger, will ya?
But then I read that it's supposed to be a good movie with a tender love story; I swallowed and gave it a try.
I wouldn't go so far and call the whole movie good but it does have the most touching and beautiful love story I've seen in a long time.I think it's no secret what the movie is about: We are in a military base in Israel and ordinary young people cope with the daily horror each in their own way.
Jagger (named after Mick Jagger cause he's a bit of a rock star himself) is the more flamboyant, vivid, playful and childish one  he's romantic, he is a dreamer, he makes plans for his future with Yossi and wants a love like in a Hollywood movie.
Also because of the two great protagonists: Israeli TV star Yehuda Levi is terrific as Jagger and the charismatic Ohad Knoller is simply wonderful as Yossi (he was awarded for his performance).
His lyrical "Yossi and Jagger" proves he is man who can deal with a lot of controversial subjects in a realistic and convincing way.This brief film packs a lot for a 65 minutes feature, but in spite of its short length, what comes out of the story feels real and we don't begrudge the brevity in which it was presented.
The story of Yossi and Jagger is presented without phony touches, that in the hands of another director, of worse yet, a Hollywood studio, would have been meaningless.This is the story about two men who happened to be in love and the consequences of something that goes terribly wrong that ends their involvement.
The two central characters stay with the viewer for a long time, which says a lot about Mr. Fox and the way he has presented his tale about how fate intervenes in the lives of these young men.Ohad Knoller and Yehuda Levi give good performances as Yossi and Jagger.
These actors make their characters work on the movie because of the intensity of their contribution to the film.Mr. Fox is to be congratulated for his inspired direction..
But within a running time less than an animated film, this movie delivers a complete story with genuine feelings, touches many grounds, and manages to be moving and leaves your heart ache by the time when end credit rolls.
with the backdrop of the sad history of conflict in that troubled region, makes the film even more stunning.I was surprised to learn that Israel has allowed gay men and women to serve in their armed forces since the mid eighties.
YOSSI & JAGGER (Yossi VeJager) Aspect ratio: 1.37:1Sound format: StereoOriginally produced for Israeli television but screened theatrically in Tel Aviv to great success before opening nationally to even greater commercial and critical acclaim, this engaging drama from director Eytan Fox has been hailed in some quarters as one of the best gay movies ever made.
Running a mere 65 minutes, the film divides its time equally between a platoon of soldiers operating on the Israeli-Lebanese border, and the two men at the center of a clandestine relationship.Yossi (Ohad Knoller) is a brooding commander who feels constrained by his role as a macho authority figure to conceal his sexuality from the conscripts under his command, while Jagger (Yehuda Levi, a popular Israeli heartthrob whose career was kickstarted by an appearance in the TV soap opera "Cheers for Love" in 2001) is one of his subordinates, a carefree guy who wants them to declare their love publicly by retiring from the Army and setting up house together.
There's a now-famous scene, early in the movie, when Yossi and Jagger make love in the snow (don't get excited - all you see are some lingering kisses and the aftermath, in which the two characters are entirely at ease with one another, free from the restraints imposed by Army discipline), but their romance takes up a surprisingly small amount of the movie's running time, which appears to have been curtailed for reasons of length (there's a number of images doing the rounds from scenes which were apparently shot but didn't make it to the final print).
Based on a true story, the film is warm-hearted but inconsequential, with some annoyingly jerky hand-held camera movements, and the climactic scenes are a little too restrained to be entirely successful (though Knoller, in particular, gives a truly remarkable performance in the aftermath of a devastating plot development).
The right things: a great idea for a film, some very good acting, totally un-Hollywood production values, engaging characters and an emotionally charged plot.
The wrong things:it is far too short to fulfill all of its promise, handed-held camera techniques(Dogma style) are too intrusive and too jarring, and complex characters are introduced and left dangling.As it is, this rough sketch of love in the military is worth the watch (I was strongly affected by the relationship between these two men) but it seems as if this is the director's experimental cut: I wish I could see the finished product..
Yossi and Jagger is a bittersweet love affair between two Isreali soldiers, very well played by Yehuda Levi , and Ohad Knoller, you could feel the love they had for each other and the hurt Jagger was going thru because they had to be so careful as they were officers.
The other is his companion and secret lover Yossi who despite command responsibilities, yearns for a time when he and Jagger can openly express their love.
The script is over ambitious, covering at least three love stories at one time, introducing too many interesting characters, but way too thin in development.
Since the film is called Yossi & Jagger, it might have been appropriate for the story about them to be the main focal point.
The excellent theme here--when you have feelings for someone, don't run from them or hide from them as you may never have a chance to express them.The final scene in Jagger's home is extremely tender and ironic and left this viewer with tears in his eyes.I just wish the film could have devoted much more time to its main characters..
Provided my officers looked as cute and handsome and so-damn-sexy-and-hugable-Yehudi-Levi (Jagger), of course I would enlist.Mild as it may seem at times, it's perhaps the most consequent movie on a gay theme that I have ever seen.
Yossi & Jagger's love is real and palpable, even if semi-secret (I think everyone new, anyway).
The scene where Yossi and Jagger kiss in the snow is surprising, and by far the most sensuous thing I've seen in cinema in years!
Yossi & Jagger is a tender, sweet, sensuous, pure, honest, scrumptious, beautiful, sexy and consequent movie.
Yossi and Jagger is really a short story of a movie: one climactic incident, no development of character, a lack of narrative dimension.
But it's a very interesting picture, for two reasons beyond the usual interest in a movie about gay life in the Israeli army.
I still can't describe this story in few words, is one of those one in a life time experience, its very short but great, you have not a full, crude view of any relationship or the bonds among characters but everything is there.
The characters were great Ohad Knoller (Yossi) is amazing, you see feeling like it was real in every move, and Yehuda Levi (Jagger)is even better.
at the end you'll understand why a picture can make you cry.this is one of those movies that you'll enjoy in a night after a long day of boring life..
but the dialogues, the tension, the love scene in snow,the feelings of Ophir for Yaeli, the smell of danger, the end are arguments for admire a great work, about a delicate subject, who explores the humanity in time of war more than one of the love stories between two men.
"Yossi and Jagger", 2002, is a military based drama and same sex love story.
Director, Eytan Fox, with Ohad Knoller (Yossi)and Yehuda Levi (Jagger).
If the yesterday's opening film dealt with the uniquely Israel topic of Talmudic research, the second film of the week takes up the more universal topic of erotic love between men -- but set at a front line military outpost where machoism in the face of death is the norm.The basic setting: Yossi (Ohad Knoller) commands a company of soldiers in the snow- covered mountains above the Lebanese border (or maybe it's the Golan heights).
This compact smackeroo calls into question all the clichés regarding homoerotic love between men, especially in the military, while at the same time offering documentary like insight into daily military life in the Israeli army, including the roles routinely played by young female draftees.
There are frequent references to the influence of American films on young Israelis, a kind of ongoing in-joke...for instance at one point one soldier asks another: "Who do prefer -- Sharon Stone or Michele Pfeiffer?" --that the answer is Pfeiffer doesn't really matter -- what matters is that Hollywood is the bench mark for beauty in Israel.
YOSSI AND JAGGER is an important film on many levels: it deals with gay relationships in the military in a country known for its lack of support for gender issues, it manages to make a small independent film seem like a major studio production, and it introduces to the rest of the world the gifts of Director Eytan Fox and actors of the caliber of Ohad Knoller (Yossi - a lifetime military type who is in love with his subordinate officer), Yehuda Levi (Jagger - called that because of his resemblance to the rock star and who returns the love of his commanding officer Yossi), and Assi Cohen (Ofir - the soldier who is caught in a triangle with a female soldier (Yaeli - the luminous Aya Steinovitz) who happens to be in love with Jagger).
The story is brief, the love between the two main characters is palpably real, and the tragic ending is made more tragic because of the response to Jagger's death in maintaining the agony of closeted gays.
This film is about the secret love affair between two male soldiers in the Israeli army, who are stationed in the front line."Yossi & Jagger" has been talked about by many for years as a really good gay film.
Opposites attract: Yossi is a career man who has stepped out of character to love Jagger, is terrified of discovery, and reluctant to declare his love; Jagger, so nick-named because of his seductive rock star looks (Mick was sexy, but never this sweet and seraphically beautiful), is a free spirit who is beginning to demand that they live in the open.
A desolate army outpost near Lebanon is the setting for this tale of intimate relations in "Yossi & Jagger."  The viewer has a rare opportunity to spend time with a small battery of Israeli soldiers preparing for an ambush.Eytan Fox's direction is comparable to another Hebraic effort, Amos Guttman's "Hessed Mufla" (1992) in its subtle yet realistic depictions.
The film is a very simple story of two men in love.
It's a movie based on homosexuality in a very macho environment, and yet, there is nothing expressly queer about Yossi and Jagger's relationship--this is a love story and a human story more than a gay story.
I had seen another two movies of Eytan Fox and Gal Uchovsky's before this one, both are "gay theme", both are amazingly good.
i think people should really watch this film and come to an understanding that NO one can tell some one else who what why and when to love - cause it's a free right - no one is entitled to take from another person.
The two leads, Ohad Knoller as Yossi and the handsome Yehuda Levi as Jagger brought warmth and sensitivity to their roles without being overly sappy in their love story.
How I envied the little rabbit that was the only witness.It is a short film, and I felt I wanted more moments between Yossi and Jagger, but alas, this wasn't going to happen.
I have rarely been as profoundly moved by anything whether it has been on TV or film as I am by "Yossi and Jagger." From the opening scene until the extremely powerful ending, I was riveted.
there, I said it).the results of this ambush i have no intention of revealing here but let me just point out that it's a very dramatic scene and it makes the generally easy going movie to an emotional turmoil which leaves the viewer with an added value measured in-how long does one ponder of the movie after it ends.summing up: this movie is a terrific movie with superb acting, a flowing (although not flawless) script and a very skilled direction (by the veteran Israely director Eitan Fuchs).9 out of 10 in my FilmOmeterP.S. Israel Film industry is back on track after a couple years of creative drought, kudos!.
I suspect they hit many people hard, as well.I've read several times on this discussion that a major weakness of "Yossi & Jagger" was its length...only a little over an hour.
The protagonists of the movie Yossi and Jagger are seen very little, and the love that they share is very special.
Strong pain in heart when that sad mother (Mrs Amichai) says " people don't have time to know each other...I don't even know my son favorite song..."Commandant Yossi, not the beautiful soldier Yaeli ,answer: "BO, from Rita".
To me, the most blatant thing about Yossi and Jagger is the sexual tension running throughout the film.
it lingered briefly (and quite appropriately) over the tender moments, but did not dwell on the sad, over-dramatic parts (that would have been overkill)...the point was made and it came across quite well under 75 minutes."Yossi & Jagger", though primarily categorized as a "gay film", tugs at the most visceral feelings any person (gay or straight) can have -- the comfort that only comes with genuine and true love, the intense need to be true to one's self, and the sorrow that can only be brought about by a great loss.
Jagger (played by Yehuda Levi) is beautiful and a free spirit, loved not just by Yossi, but also by Aya and his family, even though they don't know him at all.
Only Yossi knows the secrets of Jagger's heart.This is a short and sweet movie that has a simple, predictable, contrived and disturbing ending.
The film is about a gay relationship between two men; Yossi and Jagger.
The relationships which they form is beautiful and it's only when something tragic happens, Jagger is about to die, that Yossi expresses all his feelings for him.
This is a true love story - makes me proud to be gay and able to tell me lover each day.
While the movie is pretty well acted, and the plot a great one, the film is simply too short.
I will never look at a snowball the same way again.) There is simply not enough time to really go into the characters or the plot, and when the movie was finished, I was wanting more.
The characters are captivating and at the end of the ambush, when Yossi finally admits his love, I was crying.
Jagger dies saying that "This is not an American movie." (a reference to something they had talk about as they rolled in the snow)So in the end, Yossi has to visit Jagger's mother.Now, I neglected to mention that there was one female soldier who had rather a crush on Jagger and who was trying to make her feelings known to him on that fateful day.