La sposa promessa

Israel's official entry to the Oscars this year is probably too minimalistic and low-key to make it to the final five, but it's a film well worth watching and is in fact one of the best films I've seen so far emerge from the growing Israeli cinema. Fill the Void is of particular interest to Israeli viewers because it's a rare window into the very closed-community lifestyle of the Orthodox Jews, giving very rare insight as the film was made by an Orthodox director but with a secular audience in mind, which is something never seen before. For foreign viewers too, it may be a fascinating glimpse into an anachronistic, static religious community that hardly ever opens itself up like this to the general public.

Cinematically, Fill the Void is startlingly minimalistic; the story is a very brief glimpse into a very simple lifestyle. The gorgeous cinematography compliments that, constantly focusing on the contrast between Hadas Yaron's white face, the black clothing and the gray-brown backgrounds, but with a soft focus that makes it very easy to get lost inside. The cinematography itself is so aesthetic that it often conceals just how simple the story and the characters are - the film revolves around one moral question without giving too much insight into the thought processes of any of the characters. Its real achievement however is in enabling the viewer to be immersed in the environment and the lifestyle of a culture so different from what we're used to, and in that sense it's a triumph.

Gets _way_ further inside the world of the "Orthodox Jew" than anything I've ever even heard about before. The director and some of the actors really are Orthodox, so the portrayals of both home life and ceremonies that are seldom photographed are truly accurate, not just informed guesses. Yet this is not an "ethnographic record", it's a feature film. And the cinematography is excellent, about as far from an "amateur home movie" as you could possibly get.

The glass-half-full description is "a character study" - the glass-half-empty description is "slow boiler". Those prone to getting fidgety will probably be tested beyond their endurance. The psychological nuances aren't trivial - this film is the official submission of Israel to the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards.

The treatment of women looks "old-fashioned" to us: separate rooms, hair covering, emergency health care workers restricted if they might see something they normally wouldn't ...all the horror stories we've heard. This deeper look though shows us the considerable adaptation and flexibility around those rules-- architecture modified so those separate rooms aren't all that separate, a spinster covering her hair on the advice of her rebbe even though she'd never been married so people wouldn't ask so many awkward questions, the wife controlling the money in a rebbe's household, arranging clandestine peeks at potential mates via cellphone. The clumps of women standing in doorways reminded me powerfully of the clumps of servants in those Manor House period piece films like Gosford Park. The blocking of access to females in physical distress reminds me of stories out of Saudi Arabia. And the photo I saw later of a "fashion designer" Muslim hair covering looked so much like what these Orthodox women wear I did a double-take.

No easy answers, no "good guys" and "bad guys". There are both pros and cons. Downsides include difficulty finding a marriage partner, great difficulty keeping widows and widowers within the community, birth defects apparently from genetic inbreeding, and almost complete loss of input into the direction of the surrounding society/economy. Upsides include very strong support from both family and friends, and unparalleled community closeness. Where else do non-relatives easily call other adults by their pet names when the going gets rough? And how often do family friends feel free to proffer a word of contrary advice at any time? And although someone's decision to move away is often somewhat painful to others, where else would people literally rather die?

Beforehand I was ready to keep my distance and laugh at "those silly people". But watching it I realized the film applies equally well to _all_ communities that are "in the world but not of the world": fundamentalist Christians; even hippies who've resigned themselves to having zero political influence. There's a whole lot of space in the middle on the line with "modern society" on one end and "a cult" on the other end. Although on the surface this film is about a particular world that's about as familiar to me as living on Mars, the deeper story of gaining community but losing interaction with the surrounding society/economy still has me ruminating days later.

As a watcher of many movies I often find myself bored at watching the same tired clichés recycled over and over and packaged as original movies.

Thats why i was refreshed to watch this movie- a film that has an original story and gives us a look at a different world.

I found the casting to be excellent. The male lead was strong & handsome and inhabited his role with controlled emotion and dignity. The female lead was beautiful in an innocent way and her demure manner and emotional expressions were well suited for her role.

Well done & thanks for a good film experience!

Put aside what you think you know or don't know about the inner world of an orthodox Chassidic community in Tel Aviv, and let Rama Burshtein weave a story that is believable, engrossing, and rich with nuance and subtlety... the timeless themes found in a community which lives in the past, the excellent acting, direction and casting, will have you quickly absorbed in this terrific film.

If you are looking to vent your critique or holier than thou judgments of Jewish Orthodoxy, you may feel a bit humbled by the humanity found behind the long dresses, black robes and covered heads. The portrayal of the rabbi is an especially tender reflection of some one who is indeed spiritual, in the most human sense.

This is a gorgeous film. The cinematography, largely revealing closeups of the characters, is stunning, bringing us close in to an unfamiliar world, an insular, deeply religious culture. The acting is flawless. But what brings me to give this film a top rating is the story, one of moral complexity--life, after all, is complicated, a truism that Hollywood films fail miserably in addressing, the rare times they attempt to do so (perhaps "The Master" and "Doubt" are exceptions). A young, innocent woman desires to make a marriage match that is in accordance with her Jewish Orthodox tradition and yet in some ineffable way is personally to her taste. At first this seems possible, but unforeseen circumstances make her choice of marriage partner difficult. She is not just choosing for herself and potential partner but her choice is central to the happiness or unhappiness of relatives and friends—a situation of which she is acutely aware. How can she make the right choice for everyone, herself included? In a culture seeped in moral values, the moral answer to her dilemma is not an easy one. It has been a long time since I've been so deeply moved by a film.