Directed by Eytan Fox, Walk on Water was one of the best foreign films I saw in 2004 (in theaters). Anyway, the plot: An Israeli Mossad agent and borderline hit man is thrown off his game by two people who challenge his deeply held assumptions. I knew nothing about this film, save for the title and the country it was made, when I decided to see it in theaters. At first, it seemed like an action film. Eyal, the Mossad agent, is put on a mission not even five minutes into the film. He brutally executes a man on a boardwalk in front of his wife and daughter. Later Eyal is given the assignment of his life though he’s still mourning the loss of his wife. His assignment is to track down and kill a Nazi war criminal so he goes undercover befriending the criminal’s grandson, Axel, who happens to be gay. The description so far reads like an action film with not much intrigue, but the film turns from action thriller to drama smoothly as Eyal and Axel become good friends and Eyal begins to fall in love with Axel’s sister, Pia.

Walk on Water is a film about transcendence, forgiveness, and breaking down prejudice. Eyal is forever changed mostly because he realizes his lifelong hatred of Germans because of their bloody history, made him blind to Germany as it is today. A country that should not be damned for the egregious mistakes and violence of its past. The best thing about this film is that it’s not cheesy and oversentimental like Munich or another Spielberg film on the subject of Jews and Germany. I left the theater with a sense of satisfaction I rarely feel when watching a drama on a heavy subject. Usually I feel uneasy. Not so much in this case. Walk on Water is a great film. Rent it!

Here are some similar films:
• The Professional: A professional assassin befriends a 12 year-old girl whose family is brutally murdered. Starring Jean Reno adn Natalie Portman.
• The Matador: A globetrotting hitman and a down on his luck businessman meet in a hotel bar in Mexico City and become unikely friends. Starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.
• Gods and Monsters: The story of the last days of the Frankensteing (and Bride of Frankenstein) director James Whales recounted to his hunky gardener Clay Boone. Starring Ian McKellan as Whales and Brendan Fraser as Boone.
• Remains of the Day: The story of the “perfect” but so loyal to his master, he overlooks (or dismisses) his master’s ties tothe Nazi regime and a possibility of romance with a more free-spirited housekeeper who attemps to awaken his humanity. Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.