The Farewell Party

This drama, contrary and sensitive in equal parts and featuring some well-timed comic relief, won the Audience Award in Venice. To help a terminally ill friend, a group of friends build a little self-euthanasia machine in strictest secrecy in an old people’s home in Jerusalem. Other sufferers quickly become interested. One woman is against such self-euthanasia practices, but revises her opinion when she begins to show the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Thanks to inspired acting by icons of the Israeli comedy genre, this potentially sombre topic never becomes too heavy. This ‘dramedy’ dares tackle the ethical issues surrounding the right to a dignified death, handling it with a light touch but without oversimplifying. The directors make a joke about whether it is permissible to play God in the opening scene already. Alongside pithy dialogues and visual humour, the makers also include a surreal singing scene about the desire for a better place. With Big Talk on Monday 26-1 in the cinema of Oude Luxor.