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Late MarriageRating:
Release Date: 18 February, 2003 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $22.46 You SAVE: $7.49! Cast: |
Late Marriage Reviews
A severe indictment on the messiness of arranged marriages
Late Marriage is at once shocking, funny, and incredibly cruel. Welcome to the world of middle-class Israel, where arranged marriages are de-rigor and where divorced women with children are looked down upon as outcasts. This movie shocked me but also made me laugh uncomfortably, as I watched Zaza (a simply terrific Lior Ashkenazi), and his extremely predatory family, navigate the strict and messy waters of marital life and inappropriate affairs.
Zaza, the son of Israeli immigrants from the former Soviet Georgia, is good-looking, young, and sexy. He's also a 31-year-old doctorate student who just can't seem to settle down with the right woman, despite the help of his many relatives. His bachelor status has gradually gone from mild discomfiture to mini-scandal. His frustrated and obsessive parents frantically try to hook him up with a 17-year-old girl, but Zaza only has eyes for Judith (Ronit Elkabetz), an attractive, slightly older single mother, whom he helps support by underhandedly using his mother's credit card.
Zaza is appropriately diffident, hesitant, and nonplused at his parents' frustration. He totally ignores their threats that he should grow up and find a woman his own age or younger. Zaza desperately loves Judith and although he knows that his family won't approve, he continues to see Zaza late at night and have long, hot, sweaty sex with her. The movie's focus revolves around Zaza's conflict: Should he obey social convention, honor his family's wishes, or follow his romantic instincts?
Late marriage is a brutal, truthful, and totally abrasive film. Both Zaza and Judith know how messy and complicated their love is, and the ramifications of their liaisons could have disastrous results for them both. He loves her far more than he realizes and she, knowing how much she loves and relies on him, is frightened of its implications. Much has been made of the revelatory sex scene between them both, which is far more explicit than anything seen in an American film. Imbued with a naked honesty and realism (including full frontal nudity) the scene shows how cemented and comfortable their relationship actually is.
But perhaps the film's most haunting scene is when Zaza's family descends on Judith's apartment, and like vultures, belittles and threatens them both in front of her daughter. They ransack the refrigerator, tell her she's dirty, toss her groceries on the table, and even threaten her with a knife. All this is designed to humiliate and frighten Zaza and Judith into submission and make them understand that happiness is the last part of the marriage equation. To Zaza's parents, marriage is all about image and meeting family standards, not love and romance. Does Zaza have enough inner strength to follow his heart and disobey parents' wishes? Most viewers will probably be quite surprised at the outcome.
Late Marriage is a scathing assessment on what happens when the old and the new inevitably collide, and the final enigmatic scene shows how the two have perhaps formed an uneasy partnership. Zaza is asked who his perfect woman is, and his drunken response will probably surprise and shock most viewers. While his rejoinder raises more questions than answers, there's no doubt that it certainly flies in the face of traditional family values. This remarkable film will resonate with viewers long after it has ended, with most coming away with the attitude that if only people could be just allowed to marry whom they love. Mike Leonard March 05.
Liked 'Walk on Water'? Try 'Late Marriage' Next
The thrill of watching international movies is to find a superb current release at your local first-run 'art house' cinema, lock on to a great star, then work backwards through that person's previous work. "Late Marriage" is the perfect example of how that movie-watching technique can unearth a hidden gem.
In this case, you can start with the oustanding Israeli film (in theaters now), "Walk on Water." You'll never see a better film. Its star, Lior Ashkenazi, is the hottest thing in Israel at the moment. His breakout, it turns out, was 2001's "Late Marriage." Shockingly, my local rental location (with its 150 - 200 international titles) had it in stock.
There's an unexpected treat in here: 'Marriage' also features (albeit too briefly) the charms of Aya Koren (billed here as Aya Steinovitz). This is the most beautiful woman in film today. See 'Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi' if you doubt that.
The film itself is very enlightening and, ultimately, heartbreaking. It centers on the struggles of a 31-year-old man looking for independence in life and love, yet hampered by the expectations and, subsequently, outright threats of his family when it comes to the matters of marriage. The ending of the film is a jawdropper. You'd never get this type of dispiriting - but hyper-realistic - conclusion in the "come lift us up where we belong" world of Hollywood.
Speaking of which, there are some annoying things to comment on about the marketing of this movie. A prominent blurb on the DVD cover box compares "Marriage" to "Big, Fat Greek Wedding."
Not on your life. Writer/Director Dover Koshashvili must have spit out his breakfast when he read that. These two films couldn't be more dissimilar in the way their respective culture conflicts get resolved.
Next, we had back of the DVD, which features solely a picture of Ashkenazi and Ms. Koren. You can't fault a marketer for featuring her front and center, but, alas, she's not center to the film in any fashion.
Last, and most egregiously, when have the cover shot of Ashkenazi flashing his newly be-ringed finger into the mirror. He appears to be showing it to co-star Ronit Elkabetz (his beloved Judith). This photo is faked. It's a montage. It egregiously misrepresents the resolution of the movie. At this point, Ashkenazi's Lior is alone, lost in deep introspection (we see why in the dramatic, concluding 10 minutes that follow).
Who is responsible for this trickery? Why resort to it? Will it sell a single extra copy of the movie? I'll bet this approach greatly upset Mr. Koshashvili. No way a director would condone this misrepresentation of his baby.
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