While waiting for a blind date in a Tel Aviv park, a computer programmer named Jonathan Goldberg (Yitzhak Laor) meets a mysterious man with a penchant for obscene poetry. The man goes by the name of Eisenberg (Yahav Gal). Immediately after their initial encounter, Eisenberg inserts himself into Goldberg’s life. He follows him to the movies. He shows up at his home. He confronts him with a gang of thugs, including a guy who must be the only Nazi in Tel Aviv. The situation eventually reaches a boiling point, forcing Goldberg to take extreme measures.
GOLDBERG AND EISENBERG is the feature debut of Israeli director Oren Carmi. There are numerous points of reference for Carmi’s genre-bending style of filmmaking. For example, the dark deadpan humor and absurdism of the Coen Brothers is an obvious source for comparison. However, this film is coming from an unique and original place. In addition to being a skilled storyteller, Carmi has a special knack for extracting humor out of grave situations. He pushes this scenario into extremely uncomfortable territory without ever losing his grip on the characters and narrative. GOLDBERG AND EISENBERG is an exceptional work from a fresh new talent. (Rodney Perkins)
