It's so sad that some people still live according to religion, or what they know as religion, in the 21st century. We always see and hear about the extremism in Islam and Christianity, but this film manifests the fact that extremism in Judaism is not so innocent either. Being a big fan of Israel in international arena, I was astonished to see how mediocre some people can be even in my favourite country. The religious extremism virtually wrecks the lives of two women in this film, and nobody's quite happy about that except for the rabbi, nor does anyone benefit from the women's dreadful situation. There comes the question: Those of you stuck with religion dedicate their lives to doing favours to God, but does your almighty God really need your favours at innocent people's expense? Of course the women in question apparently tend to rely on the ultra-orthodox society and don't make a sufficient effort to break away. But all this is still very very sad and disturbing. And there's the segregation of "real God's people" and "the others". Israel is not the only place with that phenomenon for sure, but it's a country with a good amount of both types so it's more obvious there. One group regards the others as profanes and those "profanes" think the others are unnecessary losers who have no lives. Unfortunately people tend to remember such sad facts only when films like this are made. So it's a good idea to watch this film and grab some culture.
As for the film itself, I think the acting is brilliant, and the plot is outstanding. Typical Amos Gitai style, emphasizing some scenes and leaving them on screen for way longer than 99.9% of the viewers would find necessary. Most young people and superficial people regardless of age would find this film to be fairly boring. But I think it's right next door to being a masterpiece. If you enjoy films dealing with social issues in different cultures, and if you prefer enabling yourself to empathize with different peoples and cultures to seeing naked bodies, then do not miss this film. 9/10 from me.
As for the film itself, I think the acting is brilliant, and the plot is outstanding. Typical Amos Gitai style, emphasizing some scenes and leaving them on screen for way longer than 99.9% of the viewers would find necessary. Most young people and superficial people regardless of age would find this film to be fairly boring. But I think it's right next door to being a masterpiece. If you enjoy films dealing with social issues in different cultures, and if you prefer enabling yourself to empathize with different peoples and cultures to seeing naked bodies, then do not miss this film. 9/10 from me.