Arranged

An excellent film.

Summary: A traditional Muslim girl and Jewish girl work together at a school in Brooklyn. Together they experience what it means to adhere to religious and cultural convictions while pursuing one's happiness.

I respect the fact that both Muslims and Jews can live in harmony. I hope the world can learn from this and live in peace. I have friends of many different faiths and living in America gives us the freedom to live peacefully. Amazing. The movie accurately portrays what today's generation of religious Muslims and Jews go through in respect to family pressure and cultural convictions. I could relate to both of the characters and wished for both of the girls' happiness. I hope there are more movies like this to come, consisting of all types of cultures and religions.

I saw Arranged at SXSW festival, I was somewhat skeptical of the concept beforehand but was in for a nice surprise. The film is what I'd call a chick-flick, but unfortunately I have admit I really liked it.

I could ramble on about the performances of the actors, but I'd like to talk about structure (my favorite). I'm a fan of innovative films (another reason why I should not have liked this one), but more importantly I'm a fan of films who can enter the mainstream of distribution plainness and still fly high above the "average" arena.

This film differs from the mainstream but still manages to stay in there. And that's why I liked it very much. It brings up important questions about how society labels in terms of religion, it manages to create a heartwarming relationship between girlfriends, the main character goes on a soul searching journey and most importantly the resolution is very well executed (here is where most films just fall into the pit of over-simplifying).

A good good film, surprisingly good, especially for my taste.

Arranged is a beautifully shot and written film that will pull you right into a story that we all hope happens. An Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman are both teachers who meet and become friends, learning about each other without the fraught biases that so often stop such a natural connection. In this case it's also a sensitive look at marriages often condemned as arranged and overly religious but quite often happening in a positive and consensual way. The film is quite an accomplishment. I saw it at SXSW and the audience was enthralled, teary and ultimately happy - a testament to the power of this film to help cross bridges and wipe away stereotypes.

Nasira and Rochel are the daughters of a Koranic scholar and Orthodox Jewish fathers beginning their teaching careers at a NY elementary school, who are drawn together by their common experience of belonging to conservative religious communities. The film's title focuses on the issue of arranged marriage, but the two women are only subjected to fairly mild forms of arm-twisting associated with this patriarchal custom. The main theme is their friendship across a cultural divide, which provides support as they resist the school principal's disapproval of their beliefs and parental pressure to marry.

Nasira's father is portrayed as a traditionalist who simply cannot envision his daughter's future without marriage and children. He offers only minimal resistance when Nasira rejects his chosen prospect - and the father-daughter relationship appears to be strengthened by the episode. Meanwhile Rochel resists a comical onslaught from her mother and a gaggle of marriage arrangers when they present her with a parade of socially inept suitors. Her mother bullies her with warnings about family disgrace and lifelong spinsterhood, and blames her for her father's rising blood pressure.

Francis Benhamou and Zoe Lister Jones deliver fine performances as Nasira and Rochel. They are backed up by their support cast as the screenplay and direction navigate a narrow passage between melodrama and realism. By the time the story reaches its conclusion, only the most stubborn cynic will remain immune to these unusual heroines.

I had no idea what to expect when I walked into this film at SXSW. All I knew was that it was about a Muslim and a Jew who become friends. I figured it would be some kind of Movie of the Week type film with a sentimental "let's all get along" message, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated and interesting than that.

The main plot is that an Orthodox Jew (Zoe Lister Jones) and a Muslim (Frances Benhamou) work at a public school together, and find that their conservative lifestyles and impending arranged marriages make them have more in common with each other than anybody else at the school... even though Jews and Muslims as groups historically have some problems with each other.

It establishes the worlds of Orthodox Judaism and Islam so pitch-perfectly that the movie is fascinating just on the level of observing the lives of others. Though, to be sure, Orthodox Judaism does seem to get a bit more screen time, probably because the writer and the director both have more direct experience with Judaism than Islam. What we do see of both worlds is rife with similarities: both are marked by a reverence for history and tradition, and both are somewhat suspicious of people not members of their particular group. What the two lead women in this film hope to do is embrace the first part of their identities, while rejecting the second part.

Because this story is more concerned with character than multiple plot points, it would have failed without good performances. Luckily, the filmmakers found Lister-Jones and Benhamou to play the Jewish woman and the Muslim woman, respectively. They turn in two flawless performances, and prove themselves to be actresses to watch.