Leona

Leona (2018) was co-written and directed by Isaac Cherem. It was also co-written by the star, Naian González Norvind, who portrays Ariela. (Why the movie is titled Leona is revealed at the end.)

Ariela is from a close-knit Jewish family that exists within a close-knit Syrian Jewish culture in Mexico City. (There are less than 16,000 Syrian Jews in Mexico City, so everyone really does know everyone else.)

The basic plot--clear from the beginning--is that Ariela falls in love with a Christian. As would be expected, this is a source of distress for her family and her community.

How the movie plays out from that beginning is unpredictable and interesting. What makes the film worth seeing is Norvind's great acting and the fact that Ariela is not a perfect person trapped in a cultural vise. Unlike many women portrayed in movies like this, she has definite weaknesses as well as strengths.

Leona has a decent IMDb rating of 7.2. I thought it was better than that, and rated it 9.

P.S. Notice that the opening scene and the closing scene both are of a woman taking a bath. Very clever touch by writer-director Cherem.

.... the cast the Directing and the Editing.



Perfection of a Film

An impressive, timely directorial debut, Isaac Cherem's modern romance channels this generation's emotional conflicts as they seek acceptance and meaning among family and society. Set in now-a-days Mexico City, the film paints a relevant portrait of a Jewish community preserving their values and traditions. When Ariela (seductively played by Naian González Norvind) starts a love affair with a non-Jewish man, she becomes the center of an interior conflict that could lead them apart, dividing the family. Cherem deeply observes both sides of the conflict and their reasons, with focus on Ariela's search for sexual and professional identity. Vibrant, stylish and precise, it's an accomplished look at family traditions, a young woman's quest for freedom and the uncontrollable force of desire.

My wife and I both thought performances were so real that we were not watching actors. The story of this young artist moves along at a pace that you sometimes just don't want to stop. The colours vibrant to plain matched to the scenes involved. It was not magic but clever writing that Ivan's father's final play for the season was to be "Romeo and Juliet" . We just loved this movie.

The best thing about this movie is its realism. Usually a director goes with a good guys/bad guys dichotomy so we have someone to root for. But this movie has little of that, except maybe a couple of bad dates. The lead isn't particularly likeable; she's often self-centered and somewhat spoiled, and lacks courage. But she's still appealing,and the dilemmas she faces are real. The middle-class Jewish family members are neither admirable nor hideous. And the plot, while not original, doesn't take the usual turns. So it's satisfying that way and makes for an unusual viewing experience, if not a terribly enjoyable one.