This is a movie made and set in Israel and done in Hebrew with English subtitles. It was introduced at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and was released in the US in 2013. It won seven Israeli Academy Awards.
The plot is very simple. As the movie begins, a young couple is expecting a baby (couple is back right in the photo). The mother dies and the child is born. The family then proceeds to look for a new wife for the baby's father. Younger sister (age 18 - back left) of baby-mother is suggested and considered. Most of the plot of the movie is the debate over whether this is a good match or not. I'm not going to tell you what is decided.
There were several things I found interesting about this movie:
1 - I've never seen a movie set in Israel, so the scenery, home decor, etc... was new and interesting to me.
2 - Even though the movie was modern, the culture of the family of Haredi Jews (ultra-Orthodox) still has arranged marriages in the 21st Century. It is interesting to consider the pros and cons of this life-style choice that an entire culture still clings to.
3 - It was a bit strange to me to see a man dressed in Orthodox Jewish clothing pull a cell phone out of his pocket, or drive a modern car on a busy street.
Would I recommend this movie? It is not very "active" - nothing very dramatic happens. It's certainly not a romance or a comedy. The acting is good for what the story is. I think its biggest asset is that it offers a window into a different culture for most modern Americans.
If you watch it, please let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!
:)Amy
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