Want to be Angry-Meet L’ichos (2006)

Directed by: Haim Tal | 18 minutes | documentary, short film

‘Want to be Angry’ tells the very sad but sadly realistic story of a young Israeli boy who lost his father in one of the horribly suicide bombings that has plagued Israel for many years in the struggle for peace. The documentary is filmed as a diary in which Yam addresses his father, tells him what is going on inside him and shares his dreams and fears with him. Yam’s story is mostly about everyday things, things that most kids can discuss with their fathers, from scoring a great goal at a soccer game at school to the first kiss with that oh-so-cute girl in class. Fortunately, he can discuss his blossoming love life with his older sister.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with everything. Yam especially struggles with the fact that his father can’t be with his Bar-Mitzvah. This is one of the most important events in the life of a Jewish boy who officially reaches adulthood, an event that involves a reading of the Torah followed by a big feast. Yam tells his father the plans for the party, plans that he knows his father would disapprove of because of the too loud music and the belly dancers.

Yam’s story is full of touching moments where you feel that it is unfair that this child lost his father at such a young age and that he grows up with all kinds of questions that he can no longer ask his father. Two weeks after the Bar-Mitzvah party, Yam is on his way to Nahariya, to the station where his father died: “Papi”, he says to his father, “you know, when you died I was nine years old, and I thought that I would get over it. Now I’m thirteen, but to tell you the truth, it still hurts just as much.”

‘Want to be Angry’ is a sad documentary that gives a glimpse into the life of a boy who misses his father terribly. It’s almost impossible to keep dry during the eighteen minutes when Yam shares his thoughts with you. At the end of the film, when the director Haim Tal asks Yam if he is angry with someone because of what happened, Yam replies: “Who should I be angry with? At him?”