Tel Aviv, Summer 1989. Boaz, a beautiful and alluring linguistics student, receives anonymous, male-written, love letters that undermines his sexual identity and interfere with his peaceful life with his beloved girlfriend.
Snails in the Rain (2013)
Shablulim BaGeshem (original title)
Tel Aviv 1989. Boaz, a 25 years old beautiful student, receives anonymous, male written, obsessive love letters that undermines his sexual identity and interfere his peaceful life with his beloved girlfriend.
He thought it was a mistake. A long white envelope is placed inside his post office box. Only his name appears on it. “Dear Boaz, Don’t ask who I am or how I know you. I think about you a lot. I feel quite embarrassed to sit here at my desk and write you this letter, but I don’t have the courage for much else. I shall write again.” He crumples up the paper. He’s so surprised that he giggles, blushes, checks to make sure no one’s looking. On his way to Tel Aviv University for his linguistics class, he begins to forget about it. When he comes home to his girlfriend, Noa, she’s baking his favorite cake. They’ve been waiting to hear from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University about Boaz’s scholarship.
The year is 1989, when people still waited by their mailboxes. Boaz, 25, is a beautiful and alluring linguistics student. Nearly every day he comes to the post office to find out about his scholarship. But instead he receives anonymous, obsessive love letters. They expose the inner world of their author, a deeply closeted homosexual. Who is the man who has invaded Boaz’s private life? How does he know so much about him? The persistent letters make Boaz extremely sensitive. Every man is a potential suspect—but it is his own heterosexuality that Boaz really doubts. He’s now haunted by memories from his past, unforgettable moments when he felt attracted to other men: Nir, his fellow combat soldier or the German man who slept above him in a European youth hostel. These men manage to disrupt Boaz’s daily life with Noa.
In his fourth letter, the secret admirer gives Boaz an ultimatum. “At precisely 22:00, Thursday, I will be hiding at a position from which I can observe your windows. If you want me to continue writing, you will turn the kitchen lights on and off three times… But if you do not, I will never bother you again. In that case, this letter will be my last.” It’s almost 22:00 and Boaz doesn’t know how to reconcile this difficult decision with Noa and his own emotional turmoil. He also does not know that hours before, Noa had already met the mystery man. She’s known everything all along but kept Boaz’s secrets to herself.
