Following a Cannes premiere, where it earned some fine notices, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem will be hitting U.S. shores in just two-and-a-half weeks, courtesy of Music Box Films. The third installment in Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz‘s trilogy (following 2004’s To Take a Wife and 2008’s 7 Days) has been praised for its “beautifully modulated script, ripe with moments of liberating humor, [that] builds to a crescendo of indignation.” This, what’s being called a “[spare] and yet rich” work, brings us closer to a little-seen part of Israeli culture while building suspenseful human drama.
Since one doesn’t need to acquaint themselves with the Elkabetz’s previous outings, there’s no reason not to keep an eye out. And while this first preview reveals little, what is present — from the rigid compositions to, even in “trailer mode,” the tight cutting — proves encouraging. This use of a close-quarter space has been singled-out as one of Gett‘s greatest strengths in early reviews, and those who appreciate cinema of that particularly claustrophobic strand should have something further to anticipate.
Watch the trailer below (via Apple):
Synopsis:
An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) seeking to finalize a divorce (gett) from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws in this powerhouse courtroom drama from sibling directors Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. In Israel, there is neither civil marriage nor civil divorce; only Orthodox rabbis can legalize a union or its dissolution, which is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for three years, but her religiously devout husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian of CASINO ROYALE and PERSEPOLIS) continually refuses. His cold intransigence, Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the rabbinical judges shape a procedure where tragedy vies with absurdity and everything is brought out into the open for judgment.
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem will enter limited release on February 13.
Do the first peeks prove promising? Have you seen the previous installments in this trilogy?