Seen mostly in a cell-like white room, the characters in Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem circle each other fruitlessly, seeking a resolution that's probably unachievable. Both the scenario and its severity suggest a play by Sartre or Beckett. But these actors are trapped not in an existential void but a rabbinical one.
The Israeli drama is methodical and agonizing, much like the five-year dispute it depicts. Written and directed by star Ronit Elkabetz and her brother, Shlomi Elkabetz, the movie is not exactly ingratiating, despite occasional bursts of humor. But it is riveting, in large part because of Elkabetz's emotionally complex performance as Viviane.
The woman wants something that has become fairly simple in most Western democracies: a divorce. Under Jewish law in Israel, however, secular courts have no say over marriage or its dissolution. Panels of Orthodox rabbis ponder and decide.
Elisha (Simon Abkarian) and Viviane are religious, or at least traditional. They produced children and observed the sabbath. Even after leaving the house the couple shared for some 20 years, Viviane continues to make dinner for Elisha. (Her sister-in-law delivers it.) She's not exactly a radical feminist.
Under Jewish law, a divorce is not merely an agreement between two people. It requires documentation called a gett, something a husband grants his wife, if he feels like it. Elisha apparently doesn't feel like it, although his outlook is hard to gauge, since he's not a willing participant in the process. During a series of hearings divided by weeks or months, he is sometimes missing and, if present, frequently mute. When he does speak, it's often in French, the language of his Moroccan childhood — and another way of concealing himself.
As stern as he is quiet, Elisha has a reason for refusing to free Viviane. Before he reveals it, though, he speaks in the grand language of martyrdom. His wife is "my destiny" and "my punishment."
Viviane has a lawyer, Carmel (Menashe Noy), who's impatient with the procedure and the judges, and stalwart in his client's defense. He is accused, perhaps inevitably, of being her lover. A woman who wants a divorce surely must be an adulteress.
Elisha enlists his older brother, a rabbi named Shimon (Sasson Gabay), to represent him. The two sides call witnesses, some of whom say what they mean. (Her supportive and outspoken sister-in-law reduces Viviane to helpless laughter.) More often, the witnesses insist that Elisha is a fine man and that he and Viviane have a good marriage, but fail to convince.
This is the third in a trilogy that also includes To Take a Wife and The Seven Days, films that were little seen in the U.S. Each reportedly has its own visual style.
Gett is confined and intimate, showing the characters only as others see them, and sometimes reducing Viviane and the judges to disembodied voices. The clothing is mostly black or dark blue, starkly contrasting the white hearing and waiting rooms. When Viviane shows up for one session in a red blouse, it's just a tiny rebellion, but one that leads to a moment where one of the judges recoils from her sexuality.
Viviane's offense is taking her hair out of a bun, not much of a provocation by American standards. Other touches, such as a speech in which Russian immigrants are blamed for ruining the country, may also perplex non-Israeli viewers.
Yet the finely drawn characters and subtly shaded performances are universal. While the system Gett portrays may seem medieval to American audiences, the humanity it elicits is timeless.
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