The transnational in Haim Tabakman's "Tu n'aimeras point" ("Eyes Wide Open").

What is it about?

The transnational in French cinema has largely been examined in terms of the industry’s relation to Hollywood. This article, through a reading of the French-Israeli coproduction "Tu n’aimeras point" (2009) by Haim Tabakman, will ask what the transnational means when Hollywood is not in the frame. Three kinds of “trans” will be discussed. The first is how the transnational is read in writing on French cinema. The second is translation: how the film travels to reach a wider audience. The third is the transformative. "Eyes Wide Open" recounts several months in the life of Aaron, a kosher butcher whose life in transformed when he welcomes the outsider Ezri as his apprentice. In reading Tabakman’s film in relation to transnational genres, it will be argued that the film can teach us something about the French transnational through the themes it explores: stagnation and mobility, hospitality and hostility.

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Why is it important?

In reading Tabakman’s film in relation to transnational genres, it will be argued that the film can teach us something about the French transnational through the themes it explores: stagnation and mobility, hospitality and hostility.