Dream High is not just another teen-oriented Israeli summer movie. The film, which is playing in theaters throughout Israel, is the second movie by Amit Ulman, who made the groundbreaking and brilliant The City in 2023.
The City was a neo-noir rap opera, with every line a rap lyric so fast-paced, witty, and entertaining that even native Hebrew speakers had to see it more than once to pick up on all the nuances and jokes.
The City was a filmed version of a theater show Ulman had developed and performed live for a decade, and it was co-written by and co-starred the rapper Jimbo J (Omer Havron), who also co-wrote Dream High with Ulman.
Dream High also uses rap to tell its story of an awkward new kid triumphing through his rap talent in high school, and, as in The City, keeps the rhymes flowing for the entire running time.
But the bad news is that while The City was an indictment of corruption that was funny and inventive throughout, in Dream High, the stakes are much lower, and Ulman’s inventiveness is not there to the same extent. Dream High is about a kid who wants to be popular, and you know from the first frame that he will.
The new kid on the block is Yoav (Amir Banai, Orna Banai’s son), who comes from an ordinary school in Ness Ziona and starts studying at a school in the center of the country where status is determined by rapping ability. He thinks he is pretty good, but everyone there cuts him down to size pretty quickly, especially a tough, taunting group of rappers.
The scenes from his perspective as the lonely new guy are the best in the movie. He instantly falls head-over-heels for Maya (Yael Shelbia, a model who was in Rising, the series about teens training to join the Palmah in the British Mandate period), the queen of the class, and becomes pals with a goth girl, Shimi (Noam Kleinstein, daughter of Rita and Rami Kleinstein). But he is shut out from the social success that triumphing as a rapper will bring him.
A 'Karate Kid'-like teacher
Learning that the wheelchair-bound hipster in dreadlocks who runs the kiosk by the school was once a great rapper, MC Hammurabi (Amit Ulman), Yoav convinces this master to take him under his wing, and the movie turns into a rap version of The Karate Kid as Hammurabi puts Yoav through his paces.
As Yoav’s rapping improves, he catches Maya’s eye but begins ignoring Shimi, who truly loves him for himself. It also turns out that Hammurabi’s onetime rival, Victor (Ido Bartel), a mean, status-seeking businessman, is the father of Hanan (Yonatan Horenczyk), the nastiest and most talented of the high-school rappers.
There’s an elaborate and funny high-school party scene, but the climax is a rap contest, where all the rivalries, past and present, play out and are resolved. Jimbo J appears as one of the rappers.
Will Ulman's film reach Israel's teen audience?
The question that’s more important than who will win the rap battle is whether Ulman will reach the teen audience with this movie, drawing them in with the high-school plot and then keeping them hooked with his inventive rap.
Judging from the fact that the songs from the movies have already racked up millions of views and plays on YouTube and Spotify, he has broken through to the voracious youth market.
This isn't a movie most adults will really get into, but we aren’t the target audience. I wish Ulman all the success in the world with Dream High and will wait – along with everyone else who saw The City – with great anticipation for whatever he comes up with next.