Hora '79

Israeli filmmaker Eli Cohen aims for bittersweet comedy with this engaging movie about a folk dancing troupe that reunites after 33 years. At their peak, the dancers were the finest exemplars of their craft, but the group broke up abruptly following a tragic incident, and its members not only mostly abandoned dance but also drifted apart. More than three decades later, a chance encounter between two troupe members starts a chain of events that reunites the dancers, ultimately placing them in the spotlight at a prominent folk dancing festival. Of course, the passage of 30-plus years has created more than a few physical and emotional challenges for the now-senior performers, and old animosities naturally resurface. Complicating matters is a rival dance company manager who would prefer to keep the troupe off the stage. Hora '79 is not a terribly original work in the reunion-of-aging-frenemies genre, and a confused gay subplot seems to be tacked on haphazardly, but even with its flaws the film is consistently engaging and it showcases some excellent dancing. Recommended. (P. Hall)