Miri is a flight attendant for the national airline of Israel, and is a depressed woman who has been widowed twice and seems to have given up on her trust in people. Noodle follows her interactions and eventual bonding with a Chinese boy who is accidentally foisted upon her, forcing her to come out of her shell and risk losing someone again.
The Premise of Noodle
Noodle is set within the life of Miri (played by Mili Avital), a 30-something woman traumatized by the deaths of two husbands. She coasts through her days seemingly without the emotional strength to really focus on anyone, not even her sister who is going through a messy separation. Miri gives advice but won't take it. She wants to live without the price of living.
One day her cleaning lady, a woman who speaks barely a word of Hebrew, leaves her son in Miri's care and vanishes. The boy (played by BaoQi Chen, who steals every scene he is in) is silent and mournful and leaps to attention whenever the phone rings, in the hope that it might be his mother. Miri, who has no experience with children, is at a terrible loss.
But she manages, eventually, to bond with the boy who is named after his enthusiasm for a particular food, and sets about attempting to return him to his mother. Along the way she encounters the requisite attractive and worldly man, aggravating bureaucracy, hospitality and self sacrifice, an enormous suitcase and finally, of course, her ability to care about life again.
What’s Good About Noodle
Noodle is warm without being too cutesy. The characters are ordinary people, with ordinary problems, most of which relate to their own interactions rather than external forces. While war is present, particularly in the deaths Miri has endured, it is only there because it could not fail to be there, and the story does not linger on it. The depictions of individual Chinese were particularly warm and sympathetic, just as were those of individual Israelis, even if the bureaucracies of the two countries were not.
This movie is about hope. It deals with tragedy without wallowing in it. Anyone who has experienced the numbing depression that is evident with every move Miri makes in the first half of the movie can sympathize with her. She can’t trust anyone to take care of themselves, and she can’t trust herself to truly care for anyone. Her eventual transformation into a person that can stand the trust and expectations of a child is lovely and genuine.
Who Should Watch Noodle
This film is slowly paced and while the plot is quirky, it is not particularly original. Although it does have some action based sequences, it does not sacrifice the interactions of characters to them, so don't expect car chases or explosions. It does have a sprinkling of humor, but again, only as a compliment to the reality of daily life for the characters.
The expectation that the viewer will patiently unravel the subtle contexts between the people portrayed in this film may frustrate some, as might the subtitles. However, for those who enjoy being immersed in a different culture, albeit one not so different from a standard Western one, this film will be a pleasure.
Noodle is a sympathetic, intelligent film that will warm the heart of anyone who takes the time to see it. The charm of this film lies in its sensitive depiction of realistic characters and a quirky storyline, as well as the insight it provides into the daily life of ordinary people in Israel.
Rachel Sawaya - Rachel Sawaya is a freelance writer from New Zealand (who also has US citizenship), and currently lives in Auckland, the big smoke of New ...
Join the Conversation