Betipul/In Treatment

I don't have HBO, so I can't say whether its version of In Treatment — a television series following a therapist as he conducts sessions with a range of patients, occasionally attending a therapy session himself — measures up to the original Israeli series, Betipul/In Treatment. But if HBO managed to capture the essence of therapy as well as its Israeli counterpart, then it's probably worth a watch.

Betipul/In Treatment sits in on psychiatrist Reuven Dagan (Assi Dayan) and his sessions with several patients. There's the beautiful woman suffering from transference; a young girl who might make it to the Olympics if she can convince Dagan that she's mentally stable; a married couple who can't stop fighting or picking at each other; a pilot who bombed a daycare center and feels no remorse but who would like to revisit the scene of the disaster. The episodes are fascinating: Anyone who's been through therapy will recognize the careful questions Dagan asks his clients as they talk circles around him, trying to understand themselves.

Catch Betipul/In Treatment on Tuesday, February 12, at the Denver Jewish Film Festival; films screen in the Mizel Arts and Culture Center's Shwayder Theatre, at the Jewish Community Center, 350 South Dahlia Street. Episodes one through five start at 5 p.m., episodes six through ten at 8. Call 303-316-6360 or visit www.maccjcc.org.