Segredos Íntimos

There are so many poorly made, self-conscious and annoying so-called art house films out there, and then there is this gem of a movie. I sincerely hope it gets a U.S. art cinema release. It's not often I am still remembering the characters, the passion of the heart, the location and faith awakening all in one post-viewing memory.

The actors are all uniformly true to to their characters, and really excellent at involving us in their personal tests of faith and moral dilemma. The orthodoxy of their faith, positioned against a seeping modern day sensibility surrounds us as effectively as the location photography transports us (American audiences) to a world we know little about.

A friend told me to see "this lesbian movie." It's not that. It's a story of girls in a repressed society dealing with their first sexual awakening and affection confused bonding as a portion of the story of immersion in their faith and how it transforms their relationship with each other in their involvement with a strange, mystical and salvation-seeking non-Jew.

This is a uniformly excellent film. In the openness of the locations and the beautiful music, the closeness of the camera work puts us in a claustrophobic male-dominated society, just at a moment in time when women are establishing their place in their religion and in their society.

I spend a lot of time in theaters. It's not often I come away with a feeling I have truly experienced a romance with faith, with the human heart and with the written word so totally in one film.

Congratulations to the filmmakers and actors. I sincerely hope this movie finds its best audience in American theaters.

(I am not Jewish and was deeply moved and intrigued by the religious material presented)

But the ending is a tad dated on the choices available or i might be too presumptuous.

Covers a lot of life choices on what's right and wrong and the in between. And how a book written 2000 years and more ago could dictate ones life action and false righteousness.

Film for thought!

I saw this film tonight and was utterly blown away...It seems that the quality of Israeli films has drastically increased in recently years, but this film in particular hits all the right notes of comedy and tragedy that truly inspire.

The plot is multifaceted and contains multiple layers and questions. Indeed, it is far more ambitious in the tale it weaves than most.

A lesser film would settle for the storyline of the uptight girl taught a life lesson as she helps an elder, or the uptight girl falling in love and learning to live life not by the rules, or else maybe tentatively learn to question her religious upbringing, but this film manages to weave all of these elements together and truly make them sing.

The characters are without exception well fleshed out and wonderful. They all feel like real human beings rather than caricatures. In particular, the main love story is poignant and well fleshed out. The tragedy of forbidden desire is truly a tangible ingredient in the film's brew.

One of my favorite things about non-American cinema in general, but especially Israeli film, in fact, is the way they show love and the human body in a beautiful and sensual fashion without over dramatizing or being untrue. Last years Haboah ("The Bubble") did this exceptionally well, as does this film...

This was a truly powerful film that challenged notions of religious authority and hierarchy will simultaneously treating them with the utmost respect and a mysterious power. Absolutely worth seeking out and seeing.

"Secrets" is a film about everything. Just when you think you know what the main theme of the film is, it shifts direction subtly. I think you have to know at least one person who is like a character in this film to find it believable, or you possibly might just be interested in unfamiliar cultures. Practically every event in this film could not possibly happen in the US, but the movie is not a fantasy.

What are the secrets that the viewer gradually comes to understand? They are things people don't tell other people. They are things that people don't know about themselves. They are a culture's basic assumptions that normally go unquestioned. They are ancient Jewish mystical practices that are not supposed to be talked about. They are insights into biblical writings that were never uncovered before. They are little twists of language, like how many M's are in a sentence. They are what happens to people when they face death.

And the secrets of what makes this an amazing film? They are the uniformly great performances, the cinematography that lovingly caresses the city of Sfat (or Zefat, as the Israel road signs say), the beautiful and moving music, and the the questions that haunt the viewer emotionally and intellectually afterward.

I don't have too much to add to the previous comments but I wonder why there have been no comments since last October. This movie must be hiding for the right opportunity(ies) to be seen.

I previewed this movie as part of an upcoming Jewish Film Festival and it was far and away the best drama that I have seen, perhaps in several years.

I thought the Orthodox Jewish milieu was going to be a turn-off but that only added to a great story, directing, acting, setting, and scenery.

The actresses seemed to be familiar types from other, English-language, films but they probably were not. Just a very good experience.