As much as I ADORE and APPRECIATE my FilmStruck account, oftentimes it's hard to find some light-hearted fair to restore your faith in humanity after a long day or week or nine months of a Trump administration. As a person who usually feels better from watching 3 hours of Broadchurch than from five minutes of Big Bang Theory, I find that FilmStruck provides me with myriad options. But you know, even I sometimes enjoy a good sugary filmic confection. Cupcakes stuffs that empty vacuum in my heart with aplomb (and not cholesterol).
This rainbow-infused 2013 romp from Tel-Aviv is exactly what everyone needs right now. It's a cheeky love letter to that most cheerfully competitive and uplifting televisual event (most of) the globe impatiently awaits every May: the Eurovision song contest! Six Israeli friends get together one night to watch the "Universong" contest--champagne and flag-themed cupcakes in hand--and end up taking video of themselves performing an impromptu performance that goes viral and eventually becomes the entry for the next year's contest in Paris. You know how these things go. And if you don't, I highly recommend you tune in to a youtube stream of Eurovision next year because it's the kind of thing I hope interstellar aliens see and go "You know, they seem alright. Let's not blow this one up."
As the newly formed pop group trains for the big day, they must overcome their differences, their shyness, their parents' expectations, and their country's opinion of how commercialized and glitter-coated their dance number should be. They learn about their deepest values, and I learned about just how beautifully diverse modern Israel really is. It's not all sukkahs and kosher delis lining the streets. It's as colorful and complex as you could want.
So on this high holiday (YOM TOV EVERYONE!) cuddle up with your favorite people and get prematurely pumped for next year's endearingly awkward but always enlivening performances (as long as someone from Australia doesn't jump on stage and moon the camera again)! CUPCAKES FOREVER!
SaveSaveSave