In a chaste film with neck-to-toe costumes, there is a surprising amount of heat displayed between Yochay and Esther as well as — rather flirtatiously — with Yochay and Shira.
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Having long envisaged an ideal, match-made marriage comparable to that of her beloved big sister Esther, Shira discovers that she has the potential to heal her family's grief over the loss of a child if she agrees to rethink her own wedding plans. Yet Burshtein uses the limitations of her story to her advantage, focusing on Shira's unexpected independence, stressing the value of female voices within the community, reiterating the role of choice, even within arranged unions. The only way she can obtain succor is to pray to God: in one sequence she is photographed from above, her eyes staring into the camera, as she tries to listen to His word. This “back of the bus” rule has its defenders (without the distraction of the opposite sex, both genders can focus exclusively on God,) but most will agree this is just more fundamentalist oppression. For better or worse, Burshtein elides a specific critique of the religious ideology that has forced Shira into marriage in the first place. A big sit-down audience with the Chief Rabbi is interrupted by a confused, elderly widow requiring guidance on which kind of stove to buy. Verified Purchase. Suddenly, Shira, an attractive adolescent who ambles along in life when she isn't playing the accordion (not the most self-aware person, she responds to a potential beau when asked why she chose the instrument: "I can't play anything else") is forced to make a difficult choice. At first this seems possible, but unforeseen circumstances make her choice of marriage partner difficult. And I think that's why the director ended the movie by showing them together in the bedroom after the wedding: What now? Along with NYFF pick Arat, Fill the Void introduces a new film meme of chaste eroticism, as a young woman creates love to the fierce rustle of silks in prayer. The story takes place strictly within the Orthodox community with no interactions at all with the secular world. The family's older daughter, the 9-months-pregnant Esther, suddenly drops dead and leaves her newborn son and a grieving husband behind. 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. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. Her family offer her a limited amount of support, but it's clear that they are forcing her into marriage. In a Haredi (most conservative Orthodox) community in Tel Aviv, Israel, a family faces an unexpected tragedy; then tries to encourage a recent widower to stay within the community.
Written and directed by Rama Burshtein, whose previous work is described as comprising "films for the orthodox community, some of them for women only", Fill the Void gives vibrant voice to characters who often seem to exist within a great silence. This school of thought legitimizes ANY action by dragging in fate. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? And surely Israel would be far more "authentic" and "Orthodox" than Minsk. Her pale, round, expressive face fills the foreground again and again, against the background of brownish interiors and black-clothed men, and it's not a face the viewer gets tired of, nor does it turn her predictable.
Films about the life of the ultra-Orthodox community are made in the low numbers and I can remember only one such significant film of this kind, (the slightly better) Ha-Ushpizin. Was this really such a great idea? The movie hadn't made the necessary prior investment in sympathy for him. Morally speaking, she believes she is doing the right thing by accepting Yochay's offer, but director Rama Burshtein asks us to reflect on whether the decision will fill the void in Shira's life, or simply deepen it. Israeli director Rama Burshtein's powerfully moving Fill the Void, Israel's submission to the 2012 Oscars, is about love and marriage but, in the Orthodox Hasidic community in Tel Aviv, they do not necessarily go together like a horse and carriage. I've always been fascinated by religions that seem so remote and mysterious to me and yet have persevered through centuries come what may. The excellent, heartrending movie springs from the singular vision of writer/director, Rama Burshtein. This is a high quality drama about life, death, family and tradition. But I was surprised to witness that the film gets away with it. A heartfelt and intimate look inside a world we never see, Excellent, sensitive take on how Israeli Hasidic family copes with domestic tragedy, in-depth look into the world of the Orthodox. Over the last dozen or so years, no less than seven films have been made about the orthodox religious community in Israel. All rights reserved. Instead, she vividly depicts a clannish culture that is likely to feel foreign and perhaps off-putting to generations that came of age in a progressive post-feminist era. The film is tightly constructed as a series of close-ups and two-shots: the camera gives us a unique insight into Shira's turbulent state of mind, as she sits opposite Yochay, her head bowed, her lip quivering as she tries her best to maintain a facade of calm. Soon she's dead, but the baby has survived, and everyone soon agrees that the obvious play is to have Yochai marry Shira. External Reviews Young females like Shira (played by delicate beauty Hadas Yaron with an uncompromised honesty that is both refreshing and frustrating) are indoctrinated into accepting that their mates will be chosen for them, though they do have the right to refuse. 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. That's because the Haredi community (a small but sizable minority in Israel) are subsidized by the government. Nonsense! Nearly the only modern-day intrusion into this hermetically sealed society is the booming techno-music beats of an outdoor Purim celebration, which are quickly muffled by the closing of a window. Dramatically, it is about as subtle as the silent film version of “The Jazz Singer,” though there are occasional moments of levity. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. It’s a measure of her success that the settings, dress and rituals soon become secondary. Gentle humor creeps in occasionally, such as when an elder rabbi is required to give an insistent lonely older woman advice on buying a new stove. Call it brainwashing, call it the bliss of a predetermined hierarchy, just call it far the hell away from me. Not a foreign language film, which is the more politically sensitive appellation used by awards-givers, but a foreign film. Blah. Yet Burshtein wisely individualizes each case in some way, including that of Shira's disabled single aunt, who dons a wifely turban to "avoid questions.". The family and especially the main character, 18 year old Shira, is completely content within the community, albeit with the limits and restrictions the tradition requires. Issues of love never seem to enter Shira's mind; she believes she is obliged to marry, and hence works hard to persuade the rabbi (Melech Thal) to sanction her decision. How can she make the right choice for everyone, herself included? I applaud all the Artists involved in this venture. Claustrophobia isn't often considered a cinematic asset beyond tales of suspense and horror. 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). ...an entertaining yet uneven debut from a promising new filmmaker... As opposed to the bleak view of sexual subjugation in Kadosh, Amos Gitai's 1999 film about Hasidic marriage, Fill the Void sees Burshtein fortrightly and wittily asserting that this is how her community lives. The cinematography, largely revealing closeups of the characters, is stunning, bringing us close in to an unfamiliar world, an insular, deeply religious culture. All rights reserved. | The smallest of moves, infinitesimal motion. Most of the action takes place in cramped if homey domiciles in Tel Aviv, with only a few detours onto sidewalks or inside of a synagogue. Available for everyone, funded by readers. It is practically an ethnographic film. Some in the family want her to take the dead sister’s husband. Inevitably he would call you by her name, attribute her qualities to you, etc. Needless to say, I had no more dates with the younger sister.
MTV AND ALL RELATED TITLES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC. The ending is quite achingly poignant; in her wedding dress, Shira looks stunningly beautiful, but she cannot sit still. Hadas Yaron, winner of the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival in her first film role, is eighteen year-old Shira who is very close to being matched and promised to a local young man. Get the freshest reviews, news, and more delivered right to your inbox!
It is a moving depiction of how a close knit family deals with a tragedy, expressed in the context of the Israeli Chassidic framework. When personal tragedy strikes during the joyous celebrations of Purim, 18-year-old Shira finds her plans for the future thrown into disarray. Forgot your password? There is perhaps something ultimately undeveloped about it, but the film is a well acted, well presented piece of work.