Portman tells ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness’

Actor on venturing into direction with film adaptation recently shown at Cannes


Reuters May 19, 2015
Portman also stars in the film as a Polish Jewish refugee, who feels lost amid poverty and violence in the 1948 Jerusalem. PHOTO: FILE

CANNES, FRANCE: Natalie Portman played a ballerina in the grip of psychological trauma in Black Swan, but the actor said she received immense support while directing her first film about the childhood of Israeli intellectual Amos Oz, which was shown in Cannes.

Portman both directs and stars in A Tale of Love and Darkness, based on Oz’s autobiographical novel of the same name, focusing on his relationship with his mother Fania, who committed suicide when Oz was 12. Oz’s mother, played by Portman, was a Polish Jewish refugee from a moneyed family, who felt lost in the poverty and violence in Jerusalem during the period surrounding the formation of the Israeli state in 1948.

In Portman’s movie, she yearns for the forests of her childhood and spins fabulous tales to entertain her son, until despair totally darkens her life. “It has been a really incredible experience,” Portman said, talking about the making of the film, which garnered mixed reviews after its screening out of competition at the Cannes International Film Festival.

“It has been really challenging but I think every challenge has helped me grow more,” she added. “And, luckily, I’ve had many people around me – my family, my friends and my crew, who helped me so much throughout … I felt so well-supported that there was never an existential crisis during it.”

Trade publication Variety called the result a “drearily empathetic” film that would rely on Portman’s star power to sell it, while Britain’s Guardian called it “a serious, well-made adaptation” of the book. On why she had wanted to direct a film, she said, “The way to feel alive is to change and to try new things, to stimulate yourself, to be afraid and do things you’re afraid of.”

Portman said adapting Oz’s novel brought her closer to the writer and intellectual, who is one of the darlings of the Israeli left and a longtime supporter of the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I’ve gotten to know him more and more throughout the process. Now, I feel like family. I’ve played his mother, so in a strange way, it feels like he’s my child and I’m so proud of him,” she shared. 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th,  2015.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.

COMMENTS (1)

adila | 8 years ago | Reply Its good
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ