In a poignant glimpse at modern Israeli life, "Jellyfish," the enchanting directorial debut of husband and wife fiction-writing team Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, expertly weaves together the stories of three Tel Aviv women whose lives randomly overlap at a wedding. Must be why this visually-stunning flick took home the Camera d'Or prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

First there's the loner, Betaya, a cater waitress who finds a lost, mute child wearing an inner tube on the beach. She happens to be working at the wedding reception for Keren, a troubled newlywed with a broken leg. Rounding out the seemingly random trio is Joy, a Filipino nurse who's attending the ceremony with her employer. Like the scary sea creatures that this film is named for, these unconnected characters' paths might seem random, but it's all part of a carefully-crafted narrative arc—even if it's not always clear where things are headed.

While at times the story seems enchanted, in the end, the complicated web of connections that crop up in urban environments is a familiar theme that will resonate with anyone who has ever bumped into someone in Union Square and then spotted that same stranger later that day in some North Beach dive bar. (Come on, it happens.) The ironic truth that Keret and Geffen subtly suggest in all three of these stories? At the same time that we're so tied to strangers, we often feel incredibly disconnected from the people we really know and love. It's a sad fact that's beautifully presented, but stings nonetheless.

"Jellyfish" is playing at Lumiere Theatre, 1572 California Street, (415) 267-4893; watch the trailer here.

- Caroline Stanley

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