Cuz You’re Ugly
Sharon Angelhart’s Hebrew-language movie, Cuz You’re Ugly, is a closely-observed character study of an obese and unattractive young woman who craves intimacy and recognition.
It will be screened at the forthcoming Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which started on June 4 and runs until June 14.
In the opening moments of this Israeli feature film, Avigail (Riki Reif Sinai), an Israeli army soldier, receives good news. She has been accepted for officer training. Avigail’s superior has vouched for her and expects Avigail to be on her best behavior.
She cannot meet his expectations. Avigail is a person with little self-restraint and not much self-esteem who’s extremely conscious of her appearance.
As expertly portrayed by Sinai, an actress of considerable range, Avigail leaves herself open to embarrassment and perhaps scorn when she asks two guys out on a date. She seems starved for warmth and affection and may be a virgin. Corpulent young women like her face difficulties in a world that values physical characteristics that she so obviously lacks.
There is another issue as well. She comes from a dysfunctional family. Her mother sleeps away the day in bed. Is she depressed? Viewers are left in the dark. But at one point, she says soberly, “My whole life slipped away.”
Her estranged husband may have something to do with her state of mind. He seems shiftless and unreliable, though he informs Avigail that she’s his “joy” in life.
Avigail is also burdened by her much slimmer 15-year-old sister, Naomi, who finds herself pregnant. Being tough and resourceful, Avigail extorts a wad of money from a guy she suspects of having impregnated Naomi. It will be used for an abortion. Avigail realizes that neither her mother nor her father can be of any assistance. In this instance, Avigail is the problem solver in the family.
Three quarters through the film, Avigail catches a bus to Eilat to report for duty. Once there, she seems totally distracted. Clearly, she is not army officer material.
Having decided to skip her appointment at an army base, she spends the day at the beach. It is unclear why she is squandering an opportunity that was presented to her on a silver platter.
As night falls, she meets a younger man at an amusement park and proceeds to shamelessly seduce him.
Cuz You’re Ugly plumbs the depths of dysfunction in Avigail’s life. She means well, but continually stumbles. Angelhart drives home this point with wit and precision.