I don't mind being kept in suspense a bit, but the questions left open produce a weariness after a while and for me a kind of crisis came when the female lead, who was supposed to be a promising singer, turned out to be-- in contrast to what for the purpose of the plot she is supposed to be-- merely mediocre. I lost just about my only reason for remaining interested. Maybe the book carries you along by virtue of the quality of writing, and maybe those who have read the book are carried along through the movie by their prior familiarity with the story and characters. I was pleased to see that eventually the open questions are resolved (and that the promising guitarist sounds a lot better than the promising singer, by the way), but aspects of the resolution were a little hokey.

This film wasn't easy to track down. I wanted to watch it because I had really enjoyed and admired the novel it's based on, but Amazon didn't have copies of it; evidently it didn't get a lot of distribution outside Israel. I finally managed to track it down to an Israeli online shop.It's the sort of film that people outside Israel should probably watch, because among other things it lifts the lid on what a corrupt, nasty and dangerous place Israel has become - in other words, it shows just how much Israel can be like any other country. The basic story is of Asaf, a young guy who works for a dog shelter (I think he's meant to be an Israeli Arab, but I'm not certain), trying to reunite a stray dog with its owner. The owner is Tamar, a teenage girl on a mysterious mission. The opening scene, in which Tamar goes into a barbershop and gets her beautiful head of hair shaved off, is shocking in a low-key sort of way. The rest of the film, like the book, is a mixture of adventure story and social commentary.It's a good movie, with fine performances from all but especially from the two leads, Bar Belfer as Tamar and Yonatan Bar-Or as Asaf. Quite a lot of the suspense comes from the tension about whether or not the two main characters are ever actually going to meet.David Grossman, author of the original novel, is one of the best novelists working today and this is one of the toughest and most unsentimental Israeli movies I've seen. Since most of the Israeli movies I've seen have tended to be more than a bit sentimental, that's a major mark in its favour. If there's anything wrong with it, it's that it sometimes seems a little far-fetched; the novel was more believable, for some reason. But it's still a very fine story, and it's a shame that it hasn't been seen much outside Israel; most Irish films (I'm Irish) get more hype, but are far more flimsy.

Well, I will try to make it short. If many people think that today's youth is a mess, this film shows them that what they thought might not necessarily be true... This film shows the dark side of our society, and how easy sometimes it is for a teenager to go "bad"... And yet, it is a story of extraordinary courage and love.Tamar, a 16 y.o. girl is setting on a mission - To save Shai - her brother, that is already locked in the world of drugs and crime. She takes her dog with her. But at some point - the dog gets lost, and is found but Asaf, a teenage boy that starts a journey to find the dog's owners. Step by step he find out the dark path Tamar went by, and tries to follow it, and find her, although it seems more dangerous as moves on... Anyway - What I think this movie is all about, is showing us how ugly some people can be, that there are no real "bad" teenagers - they are made this way by people. And it also shows us that there are people who are ready to fight for their loved ones. This film shows us that it is not all black and white... And this film shows us that sometimes things have to be done - even when they are so hard to do, so dangerous, so impossible... I really suggest people to see this film(I don't know when will it come out on DVD, but it is worth the money I think...) But note: This is not a film for everyone, it is a hard film with very deep philosophical thoughts... not something to watch with your dinner...

A great movie!!! Truly done wonderfully. I think the director was able to take the most of this story and make it enjoyable, thrilling and surprising to watch... The story itself was very interesting, realistic and painful. The feelings of those who live in the streets, in their own "world of the streets", was build so well in the movie and you could actually feel like you live in this "world".I think the actors were great and helped a lot in creating the atmosphere around this movie- loneliness, fears, troubles and one big beauty in the middle that is demonstrated through music. Music was the theme of this movie and it was remarkable to see how the music lights the darkest corners. I think the movie had a lot to say about falling into the wrong places in life, as drug abuse and so on. It was exciting to see what people would do for each other and how hope must never be lost. I liked the twists in the plot, and especially I enjoyed the way the two plots were told together side by side. Great movie! I recommend.