Heads Up: Gett is the culminating film in a trilogy, and even though the other two can be seen on DVD, Gett absolutely should be seen on a big screen if at all possible
Full Title = Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem.
Gett was the winner of the Ophir Award for Best Feature in 2014 from the Israel Film Academy. It is the third film in a trilogy written and directed by Ronit Elkabetz in collaboration with her brother Shlomi Elkabetz. Elkabetz also stars in the lead role of “Viviane Amsalem,” a woman from a large Moroccan-Israeli family who has been separated from her husband for years but is unable to obtain a “Gett” (a Jewish writ of divorce).
I saw Shivah (the second film in the trilogy) in 2009 when I named it one of my “Highly Recommended Features” in the 2009 Chicago FEstival of Israeli Cinema (see CFIC ’09). And after I saw Shivah, I went online to find a copy of the first film To Take a Wife. Both DVDs are now available on Amazon and both are excellent.
Opens tomorrow in NYC. Full review coming soon…
Top Photo: Ronit Elkabetz in a magnificent performance as “Viviane Amsalem.”
Bottom Photo: The 3-member Rabbinical Counsel empowered with deciding her fate.
Photo Credits: Music Box Films
Q: Does Gett pass the Bechdel Test?
Technically yes, but one of the main points of Gett is so show how constrained women are by the religious strictures of Orthodox Judaism.
