The first part of Gitai’s trilogy of films about three Israeli cities, Devarim is based on Yaakov Shabati’s novel, published in English as Past Continuous and considered one of modern Hebrew literature’s strongest works. Cesare is a photographer in his forties who devotes all his energies to the conquest of women, using sex to justify his existence. Thirty-year-old Israel dreams of learning to play the organ but does nothing to achieve this aim and prefers to let Cesare, with whom he lives, support him. Goldman is a little older, a lawyer who lives with his parents and dreams of a great love that will give meaning to his life. The film is a superb portrait of Tel Aviv, a city swept by a desert wind—the hamsin—that can drive people crazy, pushing them into either depression or frantic acts of hedonism.