Cannes Film review: 'Kadosh'
The final work in a trilogy by director Amos Gitai ("Devairm", "Yom Yom") and the first Israeli film in decades to earn a spot in competition at Cannes, "Kadosh" is in turns fascinating and infuriating as it takes a long, serious look at the Hasidic lifestyle and mind-set with the secondary status of women driving the plot.
Favoring long takes with little camera movement that accentuate the claustrophobic, insular world of the characters, "Kadosh" is powerful and saddening, an artistic triumph but not likely to emerge from the festival circuit on the domestic front.
It's hard not to imagine the community in question -- the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem -- taking some umbrage in this revealing, although carefully non-judgmental drama that centers on the frustrations and outright vilification of two sisters who become victims of the harsh, authoritarian religious laws.
Married to Meir (Yoram Hattab) for 10 years, Rivka (Yael Abecassis) has been unable to get pregnant but is deeply in love with her husband and committed to following the traditions. But Meir's father, Rav Shimon (Yussef Abu Warda), is a stern interpreter of the Talmud and declares that "a woman without children is better off dead." Another of his sexist dictums: "A woman's life is he who makes something of her."
Paralleling Rivka and Meir's swiftly eroding marriage is the impending wedding of the former's more overtly rebellious sister Malka (Meital Barda). In love with a one-time soldier (Sami Hori) who left the community after serving in Lebanon, Malka is commanded by the rabbi to marry zealous Yossef (Uri Ran Klauzner). Curious about the world outside -- where women can wear short sleeves, among many other freedoms denied her -- Malka tries to help Rivka when possibly sterile Meir is ordered to take a new wife.
The strain of maintaining religious purity in a world of real emotions is not only limited to the sisters, but the film heads for a downbeat conclusion and leaves one drained. The controversial casting of Israeli Arab actor Abu Werda as the procreation-obsessed rabbi is an eyebrow-raiser, while Lea Koenig is chilling as the mother of the leads who suppresses her own unhappiness at the course of events. Abecassis and Barda are both excellent, while Hattab's portrait of a humble but conflicted true believer is likewise haunting.
KADOSH
MP Prods. Agav Hafakot, Le Studio Canal Plus
CREDITS
Director:Amos Gitai
Screenwriters:Amos Gitai, Eliette Abecassis
Producers:Michel Propper, Amos Gitai
Cinematographer:Renato Berta
Art director:Miguel Markin
Editors:Monica Coleman, Kobi Netanel
Music:Philippe Eidel
Color/stereo
CAST
R ivka:Yael Abecassis
Meir:Yoram Hattab
Malka:Meital Barda
Yossef:Uri Ran Klauzner
Rav Shimon:Yussef Abu Warda
Yaakov:Sami Hori
Elisheva:Lea Koenig
Running time: 116 minutes...
Favoring long takes with little camera movement that accentuate the claustrophobic, insular world of the characters, "Kadosh" is powerful and saddening, an artistic triumph but not likely to emerge from the festival circuit on the domestic front.
It's hard not to imagine the community in question -- the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem -- taking some umbrage in this revealing, although carefully non-judgmental drama that centers on the frustrations and outright vilification of two sisters who become victims of the harsh, authoritarian religious laws.
Married to Meir (Yoram Hattab) for 10 years, Rivka (Yael Abecassis) has been unable to get pregnant but is deeply in love with her husband and committed to following the traditions. But Meir's father, Rav Shimon (Yussef Abu Warda), is a stern interpreter of the Talmud and declares that "a woman without children is better off dead." Another of his sexist dictums: "A woman's life is he who makes something of her."
Paralleling Rivka and Meir's swiftly eroding marriage is the impending wedding of the former's more overtly rebellious sister Malka (Meital Barda). In love with a one-time soldier (Sami Hori) who left the community after serving in Lebanon, Malka is commanded by the rabbi to marry zealous Yossef (Uri Ran Klauzner). Curious about the world outside -- where women can wear short sleeves, among many other freedoms denied her -- Malka tries to help Rivka when possibly sterile Meir is ordered to take a new wife.
The strain of maintaining religious purity in a world of real emotions is not only limited to the sisters, but the film heads for a downbeat conclusion and leaves one drained. The controversial casting of Israeli Arab actor Abu Werda as the procreation-obsessed rabbi is an eyebrow-raiser, while Lea Koenig is chilling as the mother of the leads who suppresses her own unhappiness at the course of events. Abecassis and Barda are both excellent, while Hattab's portrait of a humble but conflicted true believer is likewise haunting.
KADOSH
MP Prods. Agav Hafakot, Le Studio Canal Plus
CREDITS
Director:Amos Gitai
Screenwriters:Amos Gitai, Eliette Abecassis
Producers:Michel Propper, Amos Gitai
Cinematographer:Renato Berta
Art director:Miguel Markin
Editors:Monica Coleman, Kobi Netanel
Music:Philippe Eidel
Color/stereo
CAST
R ivka:Yael Abecassis
Meir:Yoram Hattab
Malka:Meital Barda
Yossef:Uri Ran Klauzner
Rav Shimon:Yussef Abu Warda
Yaakov:Sami Hori
Elisheva:Lea Koenig
Running time: 116 minutes...
- 5/14/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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