Dr. Pomerantz (Hebrew: ד"ר פומרנץ) is a 2011 Israeli film directed by and starring Assi Dayan. It premiered in 2011 at the 27th Haifa International Film Festival and was theatrically released in Israel on February 23, 2012. The film was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Ophir Awards in September 2012. The film became Dayan's final as a director as well as an actor, before his death in May 2014.
In the film, Dayan plays a clinical psychologist named Dr. Yoel Pomerantz. Pomerantz's life is one big mess, both personally and professionally. His wife committed suicide because she thought their 5-year-old son was intellectually disabled. The son, Yoav (Michael Hanegbi), who is now 30 years old, actually has Asperger syndrome. He works as a traffic inspector and more than anything else, loves to affix traffic tickets to car windshields.
The film was met with mostly favorable reviews, though did very poor business at the Israeli Box office. The film initially remained unreleased on DVD, and was only available through VOD. But shortly after Dayan's death, the film saw a first DVD release in June 2014.
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Plot
The film depicts Dr. Yoel Pomerantz (Asi Dayan), a clinical psychologist in the twilight of his professional and personal life, living with his son Yoav (Michael Henig), who has Asperger's syndrome and works as a parking attendant. The two seemingly function and survive their lives in hardship, but the gap between their daily lives and their personal and social functioning becomes increasingly apparent throughout the plot. This gap is central to the film, both in terms of its macabre humor and its existential message, embodied by Dr. Pomerantz's explanation to his suicidal patients: "Life is a disease with 100% mortality."
Cast
Assi Dayan – Dr. Yoel Pomerantz
Michael Hanegbi – Yoav Pomerantz
Rivka Michaeli – Rebecca Zimmer
Shlomo Vishinsky – Izhak Bar-Ner
Gavri Banai – Himself
Shlomo Bar-Shavit – Vladek Nusbaum
Shmil Ben Ari – Yossi Sherman