Mother and Child Reunion

FILM REVIEW

Asia is a journey into a complicated and complex mother-daughter relationship that proves to be heartwarming and heart-wrenching at the same time. The Russian- and English-language film, which has a quick runtime of just 85 minutes, is playing at the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township now through July 8 and is available for streaming through the Detroit Institute of Arts now through July 30 (dia.org/events/dft-home-asia).

Directed by Ruthy Pribar as her debut feature film, Asia stars Alena Yiv and Unorthodox star Shira Haas. It won Best Picture at the 30th Israeli Academy Awards (Ophir Awards) and was submitted as the Israeli entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.

It’s easy to see why Asia won an additional eight Ophir Awards out of a total of 12 nominations. This extraordinarily powerful drama, which moves at a rapid pace but manages to capture the vivid emotions of the storyline (and then some), follows the strained relationship between Asia (Yiv) and her teenage daughter Vika (Haas). The two play Russian immigrants now living in Jerusalem, where they moved to start a new life.

Asia, who works as a caregiver in both a hospital and home settings, struggles to make ends meet as a single parent who became a mother at a very young age. Her nursing job often causes her to work late, leaving Vika alone to hang out at the skate park with her friends. We get the sense that both Asiaand Vika are lost in finding themselves, with Asia spending many nights with her lover or at a club while Vika rebels and experiments with alcohol and drugs.

DAUGHTER’S ILLNESS

Early on, it becomes clear that there’s more to their complicated relationship than meets the eye. Vika is seen taking medication in the morning, then becomes hospitalized after drinking at the skate park with friends. Her mother, working at the hospital at the same time, rushes to see her daughter, who can’t drink on the medication she takes. Vika also grapples with romance, friendship and growing up, all of which are thrown off track by a change of circumstances. Viewers are slowly introduced to Vika’s devastating illness,

which is revealed after her appointment with a neurologist. Though the exact disease isn’t specified, Vika is sick with a neurological illness that begins to rapidly impact her motor skills on her right side after remaining stable for some time. Her arm begins to lose function, and then the rest of her body. The doctor advises Asia that Vika could have years before she loses her ability to breathe, but that she could also decline rapidly. Asia, sensing the urgenDANIELLA NOWITZ/TIMES OF ISRAEL cy to reconnect with her daugh ter before it’s too late, immediately takes time off work and takes Vika on vacation. They head to the sea to tan on the beach, then stay overnight at a hotel. There, while Asia sings a lullaby to Vika that she once sang to her as a child, the

Shira Haas and uncertainty that hung around

Alena Yiv star in their relationship melts away. the movie Asia. We simply see a mother and

Mother daughter, laughing and remi niscing about the past. and Child BEST ACTRESS Haas, who does a tremendous job playing the troubled yet

Reunion immensely strong Vika, won the Best Actress Award from Tribeca Film Festival, where the film

Exceptional Israeli film Asia premiered online in 2020 due pulls at the heartstrings. to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Vika continues to deteriorate,

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER eventually becoming confined to a wheelchair and unable to      care for herself, we see Asia fully stepping into her role as a mother while Vika seems to mature quickly, becoming a source of strength and light for her mother. In a reversal of roles, Asia goes from caring for the sick and elderly to caring for her daughter, putting her personal and professional life on hold to give Vika her all in Vika’s final months. The two nurture the unwavering bond that was always there — though perhaps, not so overtly — that culminates in a beautiful relationship with the power to make you laugh and cry at the same time. Through the very end, Asia does everything she can to make Vika comfortable and happy, even helping Vika spark a romantic relationship with a young man who is helping Asia take care of her daughter. Beautiful and poignant, Asia teaches the lesson of the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter, a bond that can’t be deterred by even the most difficult circumstances.