A
sadistic murderer is preying on young girls.
A cop about to snap thinks he has caught his perp. Unfortunately, his rough off-the-books
interrogation is captured on video and posted on youtube. Placed on wink-wink suspension, Micki intends
to clean-up his mess by hook or by crook.
However, a grieving father beats him to the punch.
Gidi
is a veteran of the war in Lebanon, whose daughter was one of the victims. Although her body was recovered her head
cruelly remains missing. He hopes to
recover it and thereby reach some closure.
Renting an isolated farmhouse near an Arab village, he intends to get
down to business in the cellar, after coming to an agreement with the disgraced
cop. However, strange complications and
interruptions keep coming up.
Keshales
& Papushado, the duo behind Rabies,
again demonstrate a mastery of one-gosh-darned-thing-after-another filmmaking. Considering how unremittingly tragic the
subject matter is, Big Bad is unthinkably and disturbingly funny.
Needless to say, it is humor of decidedly black variety. They capitalize on the claustrophobic tension
to build the tension and toss each successive curveball with sly dexterity.
Still,
it would be nice to see the Israeli film industry occasionally produce an
inspiring portrayal of Israeli society.
Yet, the fact that Israel exports films like Big Bad as well as ideologically charged documentaries critical of
the government is a testament to the country’s openness. One will not see authority figures depicted
in a like manner anywhere in the popular culture of Israel’s neighbors, for
fear of permanent reprisals.
