Karaoke Review

Alluring the world of karaoke may be, there are different ranges to what Karaoke implements and how a usual evening of belting out pop hits goes. Sophisticated and chilling, this piece from director Moshe Rosenthal is slick and well-worked. It does not speak of the free pint of Fosters for every mid-90s hit belted out by the mid-20s pre-drinkers. Rosenthal is best off keeping away from those spirited evenings where jaeger is cheap and self-loathing is free. Components of self-loathing still linger in those of the suburban atmosphere. Flash cars and a need to reinvent the self are not enough to compete with, sometimes sophisticated karaoke evenings are the key to unlocking the heart.

They are the key for Meir (Sasson Gabai) and Tova (Rita Shukrun) who have a life of relative quality but strive for something more. Complacency in the throes of middling life is a horror comes to life for Rosenthal’s characters, and they are directed with such intensity and passion that it is clear to see what they are willing to change and why. There lies the crux for Karaoke, a piece of entertainment where the point is not to sing or compete but to engage with expressions not available in the remit of public living. To throw the self to the movement of music, the perception of sound and the liberation it can provide, something artists and stars provide themselves on the stage reduced to a living room. There is something to that, and Karaoke engages with it so perfectly.

Expression is hard to do when there are standards to be met, dress codes to adhere to and walks of life that are simply inescapable. Karaoke provides a look into the deeper desires of someone wanting to disengage. Not from themselves or what they have become, but what they may turn into if they do not grasp control. Meir is a superb catalyst for that, in over his head and drowning in new experiences yet explosive enough, wild in his heart and brave in his way of pursuing that burning sensation. There is a wilder element that attempts to exploit gluttony in the face of late-stage success, and that is where Karaoke starts to feel its traction change, and not for the better. It begins to slide off of the rails, its moral clarity and confusion overlapping with brittle but bold results.

Passion is found in all the wrong places for the couple at the centre of Karaoke, and it makes for broad and engaged results. Much of it relies on the dissatisfaction at the heart of its leads, the plug of life they feel after an encounter with Itzik (Lior Ashkenazi). He is the catalyst for their own reidentification through the power and pursuit of music. Karaoke is as touching as it is well-directed. Rosenthal adapts the importance of good music and soulful, independent qualities that come between the connection between sound and memory. What an individual takes from Karaoke depends entirely on their perception of music. Rosenthal and his cast are hoping it is more than a passive acceptance of it, but rather a full embrace of what makes music such a beautiful form.

The UK Jewish Film Festival 2022 takes place in cinemas nationwide from 10 – 20 November, and online from 21-27 November.