Ha-Sodot

This is an absolutely amazing film. I have never seen an Israeli film before and didn't even know there were any. I bought the DVD because it featured Fanny Ardant and I like watching her. I don't know why Fanny Ardant is so totally fascinating, she just is. Quel surprise! Nom de Dieu! etc. I could hardly believe my eyes when the film opened with credits in Hebrew, a language in which I fear I am deficient and cannot even spell 'Moses', much less 'Ezekiel'. What unfolded before my amazed eyes was a truly wonderful film, a rich tapestry of conflicting traditions, longings, emotions, and a battle for the freedom of women from their intolerable suppression by the Ultra-Orthodox Jews and their notion of what they call 'the Law', a 2500 year-old codification of behaviour to which they appear to be utterly mentally enslaved. This portrayal of them by an Israeli filmmaker is extremely shocking. If anything is calculated to make one despise Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, this film is it, and it was made in the very country where so many of them live and where they are even represented in the Parliament. As for the story, it centres around two girls from religious families who meet as a result of having gone to study in a yeshiva (seminary), where they pore over religious texts and discuss what Deuteronomy means and such fascinating subjects as that. So restricted are these people in their thought processes that they are not even supposed to read the Talmud, but only the Torah. They are not supposed to study Kabbalah because that is heresy, and their persisting in doing so is an important part of the story. The two girls are utterly charming, played to perfection by the intense Russian-born Ania Bukstein as the character Naomi and 'Michal' (i.e., Michelle) Shtamler as the character Michelle. Their relationship begins with difficulty, because Naomi is humourless and serious, a brilliant scholar whose father is a famous rabbi, and she is engaged to the world's greatest bore, a horrid young rabbi pupil of his who is arrogant, humourless, grim, offensive in every way, and without a single redeeming quality. Michelle is a happy go lucky type with a smile that could melt the Arctic Ice Cap and the two girls are so different they have trouble hitting it off at first. Eventually, however, their friendship deepens so much that they become lovers. I can imagine the Ultra-Orthodox rioting in Jerusalem over this! It takes a very long time indeed for Naomi to lighten up, and to free herself from the brain-washing of her father and her upbringing, and to break off the engagement with the young monster rabbi. Intimately interwoven with the two girls' story is their encounter with a strange older woman in the same town, a character named Anouk, played by Fanny Ardant. Only Michelle can speak both Hebrew and French, but the two girls become drawn into the mysterious life of Anouk, who has come back to the town to die, as she has terminal cancer. Through her brilliance as a scholar Naomi finds rituals drawn from the forbidden Kabbalah to purge Anouk of her past sins, in order to ready her for death and to be 'forgiven by God'. Along the way, Naomi is shocked to discover that Anouk is not even Jewish, but her love for her past Jewish lover, whom she killed in a quarrel (she has spent 15 years in jail as a result), makes it psychologically necessary for her to go through this process. The girls risk their reputations by trying to help Anouk, and are eventually expelled from the yeshiva for heretical acts and for daring to go to Anouk's hospital bedside on the Sabbath. The film is made with such honesty and intensity, and such raw passion, that it is a searing cultural, religious, and social document as well as a human testament of immense power and relevance. All of the performances are intense and convincing. The minor character of Yanki, who should have been a rabbi but chose instead to become a musician, is charmingly portrayed by Adir Miller, who with self-deprecating smiles endears himself to everyone. The main performances by Ardant, Bukstein, and Shtamler are so radiant and compelling that this film is an instant classic. It should really be seen by anyone who likes great cinema, but even people indifferent to such things should watch it if they have the slightest interest in the Middle East, as this says so much about the melting pot which is Israel, where crazed fanatics and easygoing liberals live uneasily side by side. (Does it remind you of Beirut?) People complain about the intolerant and insane Wahabbi Muslims, but what about the Ultra-Orthodox Jews? They both suppress women, are totally humourless, and propagate grim doctrines which recommend a kind of hell on earth. Truly the extremists of the Middle East deserve each other. But do we deserve either of them? In any case, we do deserve this wonderful film, and it deserves us, in the form of our attention and admiration.

"Secrets" is a film about everything. Just when you think you know what the main theme of the film is, it shifts direction subtly. I think you have to know at least one person who is like a character in this film to find it believable, or you possibly might just be interested in unfamiliar cultures. Practically every event in this film could not possibly happen in the US, but the movie is not a fantasy.

What are the secrets that the viewer gradually comes to understand? They are things people don't tell other people. They are things that people don't know about themselves. They are a culture's basic assumptions that normally go unquestioned. They are ancient Jewish mystical practices that are not supposed to be talked about. They are insights into biblical writings that were never uncovered before. They are little twists of language, like how many M's are in a sentence. They are what happens to people when they face death.

And the secrets of what makes this an amazing film? They are the uniformly great performances, the cinematography that lovingly caresses the city of Sfat (or Zefat, as the Israel road signs say), the beautiful and moving music, and the the questions that haunt the viewer emotionally and intellectually afterward.

There are so many poorly made, self-conscious and annoying so-called art house films out there, and then there is this gem of a movie. I sincerely hope it gets a U.S. art cinema release. It's not often I am still remembering the characters, the passion of the heart, the location and faith awakening all in one post-viewing memory.

The actors are all uniformly true to to their characters, and really excellent at involving us in their personal tests of faith and moral dilemma. The orthodoxy of their faith, positioned against a seeping modern day sensibility surrounds us as effectively as the location photography transports us (American audiences) to a world we know little about.

A friend told me to see "this lesbian movie." It's not that. It's a story of girls in a repressed society dealing with their first sexual awakening and affection confused bonding as a portion of the story of immersion in their faith and how it transforms their relationship with each other in their involvement with a strange, mystical and salvation-seeking non-Jew.

This is a uniformly excellent film. In the openness of the locations and the beautiful music, the closeness of the camera work puts us in a claustrophobic male-dominated society, just at a moment in time when women are establishing their place in their religion and in their society.

I spend a lot of time in theaters. It's not often I come away with a feeling I have truly experienced a romance with faith, with the human heart and with the written word so totally in one film.

Congratulations to the filmmakers and actors. I sincerely hope this movie finds its best audience in American theaters.

(I am not Jewish and was deeply moved and intrigued by the religious material presented)

Living in a secular society and not being religious myself this movie was like visiting another planet. It's a world where religion is taken seriously. And when I say religion I don't mean believing in God (or G-d, as in the sub-titles), but rather the understanding of what God said is studied seriously. Again, while I'm not religious, I admired the fact that the girls took it so gravely seriously. I admit I cannot make a judgment on the accuracy of the movie as a depiction of Orthodox Jews, but the world is filled with societies where women are treated as less then men so it wouldn't surprise me if it was true. As a movie, it was funny and dramatic and entertaining and never lost my interest for a moment. I saw this at the Toronto International Film Festival 2007, but I hope this gets some North American release.

It may be a honor to be nominated, but there can only be one winner. Unfortunately this great 2007 film had the misfortune to be competing with The Band's Visit, and outstanding film. Fortunately, it is eligible this year for a GLADD award for a feature film in limited release.

The performances by Fanny Ardant as Anouk, Ania Bukstein as Noemi, and Michal Shtamler as Michel (That's Michelle!) were outstanding.

It was a powerful and fascinating look at a very patriarchal society, and a glimpse that even Jews have differences of opinion on their religion (Are they Protestant?).

Funny, compelling, sure to anger you over the treatment of women, warm and tender: it is an excellent film.