Gett (2014) Reviews

• Extraordinary courtroom drama

  rubenm2014-09-13

  'Gett' means divorce decree in Hebrew. And that's what this film is about: a divorce. A long, painful, difficult and tragic divorce. The film shows the court procedures during a five year period, in which Viviane Amsalem tries to convince her husband Elisha to grant her a divorce. Apparently, in Israel, mutual consent is necessary for a divorce. And a divorce can only be obtained after a procedure in a rabbinical courts. The consequences of this archaic system are clearly shown. The whole procedure and the rabbinical judges themselves are biased towards men. They consider marriage as a religious contract, not as a consensual agreement between two equal persons. 'Why don't you want to divorce this woman?', asks a judge. 'Because she is my fate', answers Elisha Amsalem. The whole concept of these religiously inspired courts is completely contrary to what we consider as fair justice. It's amazing that this can exist in a modern state like Israel. No doubt, that is exactly the message the directors wanted to give with this film. Of course, Judaism is no exception in this regard. Compared to men, women are usually disadvantaged in religion, be it by the Islamic rules to wear a veil, or by the catholic rules forbidding women to become priests. Apart from being a film with a strong message, this is also a wonderful cinematographic accomplishment. The film is completely devoid of any sensationalism. It shows the goings-on in the court room, and nothing else. This sounds boring, but in fact the film makers achieve the opposite effect. You keep on watching with growing amazement. In fact, a lot of things happen during the proceedings. At first, there is the clear obstruction from Elisha, who refuses several times to appear in court. After that, there is a series of appearances by witnesses, who are very colourful personalities and sometimes add a bit of humor to the grim proceedings. And in the end there is a final dramatic showdown between the two protagonists. All of this takes place in the bare court room, filled with religious zealots, who consider coloured toe nails as something to be frowned upon, and forbid Viviane to touch her own hair because somehow that could give offense. The power of this film is the acting by all involved. Co-director Ronit Elkabetz is incredible as the patient, dignified Viviane, barely hiding her contempt for her husband and the judges. Only at the very end, she allows herself to fully express her emotions. But the husband, Elisha, is also shown as a complex character. He is a rigid man, constrained by his religious beliefs. You only fully get to understand his motivations after he is convicted to a prison sentence for contempt of court. This is one of those movies that truly deserve an international art-house audience. It is worth seeing because of the subject, but even more so because of its quality. I was amazed to be the first one to review it, and to see that only 130 people have rated it.

  More

• Middle East fundamentalism once again scoring low on women's rights

  mailjohnw2015-10-04

  Excellent movie. It is really a play, with a play's limited sets, but with the movie camera's freedom to somehow annotate the lines with sub-textual commentary. The camera, is, however, never, intrusive, and remains mostly neutral (if that is even possible). The immense frustration of this absurd ritual for divorce transfers to the viewer. The 'wife", seeking the divorce, remains almost silent, save for several curt responses to the self-important rabbis ruling over the case. The underlay here is Middle East culture, fundamentalism in my book, trundling it's (formerly: its) tyranny down thru these ages, and it makes you wonder how sane peep still adhere, so desperately it seems, to this primitive and obsolete madness.

  More

• A great film about a greatly flawed system

  Red-1252015-08-13

  Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014) is an Israeli film written and directed by the sister-and-brother team of Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz. Ronkit Elkabetz also stars in the movie. She plays Viviane Amsalem, who is married to Elisha Amsalem (Simon Abkarian), from who she wants a divorce. In order to be divorced from Elisha, Viviane must obtain a Gett--the approval of her husband for the divorce. That is the basic plot of the movie. In fact, it's the only plot of the movie. Can Viviane obtain the divorce that she so desperately wants. I learned--after watching the film--that Gett is actually the third movie in a trilogy about this couple. Although it would probably make sense to watch the trilogy in chronological order, Gett stands on its own as a powerful and complete film. The script contains references to earlier events, but they are presented clearly enough to allow us to understand them. All of the actions take place in the rabbinical courtroom in Israel, and in the waiting room of the courtroom. There's not a single shot of anything outside the courtroom. It's a truly claustrophobic setting, especially because the courtroom and waiting room are devoid of any color or any objects of interest, other than the actors. Both of the leading actors are superb. Our heart goes out to Viviane Amselem, who simply wants a divorce. She appears to be a fine person--honest, honorable, and someone who has made a real effort to be and remain a good wife. However, the marriage for her is dead, and she wants to leave the marriage and move on with her life. She has wanted this for five years, and still she is not divorced. Her husband, Elisha, is not a cardboard cutout villain, which would actually make things easier for us as viewers. He is a handsome, intelligent, well-spoken man. However, he appears emotionally cold and aloof. I wonder if he might have a condition somewhere along the autism spectrum. Certainly, his interactions with others--the judges, his wife, the witnesses--are uniformly cold and almost robotic. What we learn is that there is no such thing as a "civil court" for divorces in Israel. The rabbinical court is the only court. In the United States, a highly observant Jewish woman might go to a rabbinical court to obtain a Gett. If her husband refuses to give her a Gett, she can't be divorced from a religious point of view. However, if she is desperate enough, she has the choice of going to a civil court and getting a legal divorce. (This may not be considered an option by a highly observant woman, but she has the legal option, whether she chooses to use it or not. In Israel, she doesn't have the legal option.) What I took away from this film is that the Israeli legal system is broken in respect to divorce. The rabbis can ponder. They can quote from the Talmud. They can subpoena witnesses, they can freeze someone's bank account or credit cards. They can cajole, they can reason, they can fume. What they can't do is make a husband give his wife a Gett. This film was shown at the excellent Dryden Theatre in Rochester, NY as part of the matchless Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. Unfortunately, we were unable to be at the theater that night, so we bought the movie on DVD. It worked very well on DVD--it's basically a courtroom drama, so there's not any scenery or action shots that would do better on a large screen. Note: A booklet was Included in the DVD, which contained commentary about the film. That's how I learned about the two earlier movies: To Take a Wife (2004) and Seven Days (2008).

  More

• A peculiarly Israeli problem

  Sonofamoviegeek2015-08-17

  The matter of divorce is an Israel-only problem where power over marriage and divorce is in the hands of the rabbinate. As the IMDb Summary notes, civil marriage and divorce does not exist in Israel. Thus Gett may be incomprehensible to non-Jews outside Israel where marriage is a civil matter but can be licensed to religious authorities. Judaism has this further peculiarity that the man must consent to the bill of divorce (the Get)for the divorce to take place. Normally,this is a formality and Israeli couples can part and resume their lives. Without a Get, neither spouse can remarry. If the man abandons his wife and leaves the country, the woman is in a legal limbo. This was the subject of an earlier short Israeli film, Ha-Get. In Gett, the man is available but refuses to consent. The Rabbis try all the limited avenues available to force consent (take away the driver's license, jail, etc.) but can't force the man to sign. That is the basis of Gett. I have given Gett a 9 despite the lack of action and the focus on a less than universal problem. My reason is that, while watching Gett, I found similarities to the classic 12 Angry Men. I realize that it's a different courtroom and type of case on trial but that static tension is present in both films. The second reason is the acting skills displayed, particularly by Ronit Elkabetz. Even if you knew nothing about the divorce problem in Israel, you can read in Ronit Elkabetz' character the agony and frustration that getting a Get can cause. I highly recommend Gett.

  More

• You don't see me

  ferguson-62015-03-03

  Greetings again from the darkness. Personal views on Politics and Religion are purposefully avoided in my film reviews as I prefer to view the work from the perspective of art and storytelling. Sometimes, however, a film exposes such an injustice that stifling one's opinions is just not practical. Such is the case with this latest from the brother-sister co-directing and co-writing team of Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. This is the final piece to the creative siblings' trilogy on Israeli marriage that began with To Take a Wife (2004), and was followed by 7 Days (2008). That's right, the two characters of husband Elisha (Simon Ebkarian) and wife Viviane (played by director Ronit Elkabetz who was also in the excellent 2007 film The Band's Visit) have been followed through the stages of marriage, separation, and now divorce court. Only their divorce court is not what most of the world thinks of when we hear that term. In Israel, divorce is not a civil matter, but rather falls under Jewish law and the proceedings are overseen by a triumvirate of rabbinical judges. If that's not difficult enough to stomach … it's the husband who holds ALL the power. The husband must agree to grant his wife the divorce. Without his permission, the judges can do nothing and the wife is bound to the marriage. With the story unfolding almost exclusively in the bleak courtroom, Viviane trudges through delays, no-shows, desperate negotiations, and other time-wasters; only occasionally succumbing to an outburst, rather than her usual quiet dignity. Elisha maintains a seemingly proud and determined look when he does show for hearings, only periodically shooting a look of disgust at his wife. His confidence stems from the power in knowing that grounds for divorce do not include irreconcilable differences. The camera work puts us right in the courtroom and we soon recognize Elisha's mannerisms as not just passive-aggressive, but also manipulative and misguided. He is not an awful man, but this is an awful marriage. Long a fan of courtroom dramas, I was mesmerized by the dumbfounding process as well as the stellar performances, excellent script and POV camera work. Ms Elkabetz is terrific as Viviane, and her work is complimented by Mr Ebkarian as her husband, Sasson Gabay as his brother and advocate, and Menashe Noy as her advocate and admirer. The film is a strange blend of hypnotic and infuriating and heart-breaking. It's uncomfortable to watch, but one we can't turn away from … especially as Viviane shouts "You don't see me!" to the judges.

  More