Villa Touma – 6.8

Maybe because there are three sisters, the blurb described this film from Israel as Chekhovian. In fact, it was as much Dickens or O’Henry – or whoever it was who wrote Cinderella. The plot is simple: an unwanted niece comes to live with her three aunts, remnants of a Christian community in Ramallah who exist in an isolated time warp. As the niece struggles to adapt, we see her disruptive effect on the aunts’ lives. They have distinct personalities, and in case we miss the point, the mean aunt has bug eyes and a hook nose, while the good aunt is pretty. Other than the surprise ending, the plot is predictable, but I enjoyed the glimpse of another culture.