War and its implications are the first things one tends to associate with Israeli cinema, perhaps because those kind of films are the ones that make it to the film festivals and get international releases (most notable are the works of director Amos Gitai).
"Jellyfish" is a welcome respite from this: a dazzlingly stylish urban fable set in Tel Aviv, the city is shown here as an oasis lit by soft, unobtrusive sunrays and made peaceful by a rambling beach. Nimbly sidestepping the issues of history, religion and politics, filmmakers Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen concentrate on small, poetic details of people's lives, that have, in varying degrees, been damaged by a lack of real intimacy.
Keret and Geffen are both highly-respected authors who have recently branched out into cinema. Interestingly, they rely less on words than carefully crafted visuals to move the story along, while their characters are anything but verbose, having trouble actually communicating.