Review of The Flat (2011) by Reini U — 06 Nov 2012

A tiresome, true tale of an Israeli man, after the death of his 98-year-old grandmother, discovering correspondence, photographs and empirical evidence of a lifelong relationship between his Jewish grandparents and a German family, ranking high in Nazi echelons; their friendship commenced before the second world war and lasted well into the sixties with repeated trips to post-war Germany and other spots throughout Europe. We watch the "flat" being divested of archival material: papers, clothes, jewelry, long unread, unworn and the unearthing of a mysterious, unexplained personal fusion, that despite monumental obstacles, never died.

Arnon Goldfinger burrows deep into the lives of Kurt and Gerda Tuchler (his grandparents) and Leopold von Mildenstein and his wife. He follows the trail to Germany, interviewing the daughter and son-in-law of Von Mildenstein. What follows is obfuscation, ignoring the reality on the part of the Germans but also the lack of interest, inquiry of Mrs. Goldfinger, the daughter of Kurt and Gerda; she never asked or exhibited a modicum of curiosity in her parents past, their emigration to Palestine in the thirties, or why they lived for decades in Tel Aviv surrounded by German memorabilia; Gerda never mastered Hebrew.

Droningly narrated by Arnon, his dispassionate mother in tow, the answer from the embryonic stages to the conclusion, was completely obvious. Two intelligent couples, similar interests, forged a bond of friendship that the era, ideologies, war, could not render asunder; topics permanently avoided: religion and politics.

TWO STARS!!

For Now.....Peneflix.