L ifestyle /C ulture
Israeli TV Show ‘The Attaché’ Misdirects
T E L EVISION
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
CHIEF AMONG THE many
odd choices made by the
creators of “The Attaché,” an
Israeli dramatic series from the
producers of “Shtisel,” is the
show’s title.

“The Attaché,” available now
with English subtitles on Acorn
TV, is not a political drama, nor a
diplomatic farce. The title might
suggest a workplace comedy-
drama or an action-packed spy
show. At the very least, it would
suggest that the attaché herself
would be the main character.

Even the title sequence suggests
a fast-paced thriller.

But “The Attaché” is none of
those things, and the attaché,
Annabelle Cohen (Héloïse
Godet), is the show’s secondary
focus. Eli Ben David, who
created, wrote and directed the
10-episode first season, also
stars as Annabelle’s husband,
Avshalom. It is with Avshalom,
the attaché’s husband, that “The
Attaché” spends most of its time.

“The Attaché” is a show about
a fraying marriage, a fish-out-of-
water tale that builds in suspense
and leaves you concerned with
the fate of its principal charac-
ters. Will they stay in Paris past
Annabelle’s one-year fellowship
as the aliyah attaché in the Israeli
embassy? Can their marriage
survive the decision?
The chemistry between Ben
David and Godet is enough to
sustain everything on its own.

The setting is beautiful, and the
writers tackle vital questions
in Hebrew, French, Arabic and
English. What slows everything
down are the thematic feints,
beginning with that misdi-
rection of a title: half-gestures
toward ideas, plotlines and
people that aren’t fully explored.

“The Attaché” tells the story
of Annabelle and Avshalom,
an Israeli couple that moves to
Paris for one year with their
young son, Uri (Ilay Lax).

Annabelle, a native, is delighted
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Eli Ben David plays Avshalom in “The Attaché,” the show he created,
wrote and directed.
Photos courtesy of Acorn TV
From left: Uri (Ilay Lax), Avshalom (Eli Ben David) and Annabelle (Héloïse
Godet) star as an Israeli family spending a year in Paris in “The Attaché.”
to be home, nearer to her family
than she’s been in years, and
with an eye toward making the
move permanent. Avshalom,
a successful musician back in
Israel, is sullen and depressed
in his new country, unable to
pick up the language, without
much to do besides dither on
the piano at a synagogue that he
loathes and pine for his old life.

His uncertain place is felt
most acutely in the aftermath
of a terrorist attack, when
his dark skin and inability
to speak French leads to his
violent arrest. While Avshalom
is being thrown in jail, his wife
and family are being protected
by imposing French-Israeli
bodyguards; thus, the tone is
set for their respective relation-
ships to their new home.

The terrorist attack and its
aftermath are based on the
2015 Bataclan killings, and
Ben David has said that the
series is partially based on his
experience living in France
around that time. However, by
the end of the third episode,
Avshalom’s paranoia regarding
the arrest and the attacks are
more or less dropped.

Annabelle is a budding
diplomat of Ashkenazi stock,
the daughter of wealthy, philan-
thropic, etiquette-minded
snobs; Avshalom is a Metallica-
underwear-wearing musician
of Moroccan descent, and his
father displays a coarseness that
his counterparts barely tolerate.

Avshalom can speak Arabic,
attack by a far-right gang and
a bizarre political stunt by a
far-left group. It’s a lot of drama
for 10 30-minute episodes, and
the accumulation of store-
brand narrative tricks blend
some of the episodes together.

But a fine score and
quick-cut editing keeps things
from dragging too much and, in
but not French; vice versa for
Annabelle. They’re able to split the
difference, less push-and-pull
than give-and-take. Avshalom
goes to buy a tuxedo for an
embassy event when Annabelle
asks him to, and he refers to
their be-sandaled wedding. It
works. Still, brazen elders like
Annabelle’s parents (Florence
Bloch and Patrick Braoudé) and
a foul-mouthed Algerian-Jewish
bigot that they invite for dinner
(Jean-Louis Tribes) aren’t shy
about pointing out the possibly
irreconcilable differences that
Annabelle and Avshalom can’t
or won’t acknowledge.

She grows suspicious of
Avshalom’s Arab friend, a cafe
owner named Said (Karim
Saidi), after the terrorist attack,
and Avshalom seems to have it
out for a young refugee brought
to dinner by Annabelle’s
parents. Avshalom is protec-
tive of his even darker-skinned
father, Ovadya (Gabi Amrani),
who himself displays callous
cruelty toward Arabs.

All of this produces knotty
questions of race, ethnicity and
class that give the show some
weight. Avshalom and Annabelle
fight and make up, then
repeat. There’s a heart attack,
a false pregnancy, a hospital-
ized parent, a lost child, two
thefts, strained friendships,
two dramatic firings, near-infi-
delities, tense dinners, a racist
JEWISH EXPONENT
the end, “The Attaché” is worth
the price of admission. It’s a
small, compelling story about
a couple’s struggle to adapt
to their new home, however
saddled with over-the-top
dramatic ballast it may be. l
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
Name: Rothenberg Law Firm
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