Disobedience * * * * 1/2
I'm not Jewish and I'm not a Woman and I'm not Gay. But then again, neither is director Sebastian Lelio, and this is his second foray into an arena that might invite a critical comment such as, "What would you know?"
His last film A Fantastic Woman was about a Transgender person. (It's still in the cinemas even as this has been released).
But from writers to directors to actors to extraordinarily perceptive critics like Flippant Phil, how many people have had the actual experience of the protagonist? And how many films would be made if personal and direct experience were prerequisites?
I think Disobedience is an outstanding film. Better than A Fantastic Woman. Lead actor and producer Rachel Weiz made this film happen. She is Jewish and she is a Woman so she ticks two boxes. Frustrated by the dearth of intelligent lead roles for women she went on the hunt and came across the novel, Disobedience, a true story written by Naomi Alderman. She recruited Lelio as the director and Rachel McAdam as her co-star.
Disobedience is about Renit, the daughter of a Rabbi. Renit was shunned by her father and from the London based Jewish Community because of her disobedience to their orthodox religious expectations and her suspected sexual proclivities. Exiled from her community she went off to New York where she worked as a photographer.
At the beginning of the film she is doing a studio shoot when she is given news. What we see then is a series of actions without dialogue. Renit getting drunk in a bar, having sex with a stranger in lavatory cubicle, ice skating to exhaustion, collapsing on the bench afterward and impatiently tearing at her top to release her own body heat. All rather symbolic when we learn the news she has received is that her father has died.
And so Renit returns to London for the funeral, where she meets again with her old friends David and Esti who are now married - news that leaves Renit reeling for reasons that soon become clear.
Her old community tolerate her but their sense of disapproval of what she has become and their remembrance of why she was shunned is palpable.
At the first chance of being alone together the relationship between Renit and Esti (Rachel McAdam) becomes clear to us. Even after years of separation the love they share will not be suppressed - and so the re-ignited flame grows from glances to touches to stolen passionate kisses in alleyways to planned afternoons of sexual indulgence in a hotel room. In some ways it reminded me of Blue Is The Warmest Colour . For as explicitly sexual as this is - and completely justifiable - these are beautifully developed characters who we feel for, including those in the fallout of their ill-fated but irrepressible relationship.
It's a beautiful and lovingly made film and rich in content. It also shows a fascinating insight into a somewhat closed community.
His last film A Fantastic Woman was about a Transgender person. (It's still in the cinemas even as this has been released).
But from writers to directors to actors to extraordinarily perceptive critics like Flippant Phil, how many people have had the actual experience of the protagonist? And how many films would be made if personal and direct experience were prerequisites?
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| Star (of David) crossed lovers. |
Disobedience is about Renit, the daughter of a Rabbi. Renit was shunned by her father and from the London based Jewish Community because of her disobedience to their orthodox religious expectations and her suspected sexual proclivities. Exiled from her community she went off to New York where she worked as a photographer.
At the beginning of the film she is doing a studio shoot when she is given news. What we see then is a series of actions without dialogue. Renit getting drunk in a bar, having sex with a stranger in lavatory cubicle, ice skating to exhaustion, collapsing on the bench afterward and impatiently tearing at her top to release her own body heat. All rather symbolic when we learn the news she has received is that her father has died.
And so Renit returns to London for the funeral, where she meets again with her old friends David and Esti who are now married - news that leaves Renit reeling for reasons that soon become clear.
Her old community tolerate her but their sense of disapproval of what she has become and their remembrance of why she was shunned is palpable.
At the first chance of being alone together the relationship between Renit and Esti (Rachel McAdam) becomes clear to us. Even after years of separation the love they share will not be suppressed - and so the re-ignited flame grows from glances to touches to stolen passionate kisses in alleyways to planned afternoons of sexual indulgence in a hotel room. In some ways it reminded me of Blue Is The Warmest Colour . For as explicitly sexual as this is - and completely justifiable - these are beautifully developed characters who we feel for, including those in the fallout of their ill-fated but irrepressible relationship.
It's a beautiful and lovingly made film and rich in content. It also shows a fascinating insight into a somewhat closed community.
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