“Disobedience”: Film Review & Podcast

Posted: May 18th, 2018 | Filed under: Cinema, Film Reviews Podcast | No Comments »

At a turning point in the film, “Disobedience,” there is a long, telling tracking shot of Ronit (Rachel Weisz), who has returned to London from NYC for her father the rabbi’s funeral, and childhood friend Esti (Rachel McAdams) walking down the street, getting reconnected.

Ronit has escaped or been pushed away from the orthodox Jewish community in which she grew up, and she wears no wig, as social mores would dictate for the women there. She nonchalantly, at a key moment in the dialog, combs her fingers through her hair.

It is oh so subtly evocative.

There are many such touches in this elegiac, somber contemplation.

We have just learned that Ronit and Esti were lovers, and that Esti is married to the third member of their childhood trio, Dovid, (Alessandro Nivola).

This is mature cinema, the contemplation of passion and emotion in an insulated community.

It’s excellently played. And, as with all good films, all good art really, asks way more questions than it answers.

For more detail and discussion of “Disobedience,” listen below:

Audio MP3


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