Kadosh ("Sacred") is a film set in Mea She'arim, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish quarter of Jerusalem.
The story begins with a lengthy and graceful sequence that shows Meir (Yoram Hattab) dressing and praying, engaged in his morning ritual. Here is a world in which every action of the day is undertaken according to Talmudic ritual; a sense of emotional claustrophobia underlines the film.
Meir dearly loves his wife Rivka (Yael Abecassis), but they have a problem. After 10 years of marriage, they have no children. As the woman's main role is to have children and ensure the supply of future scholars of the Talmud, a childless union is considered an illegitimate marriage.
The rabbi (who is Meir's father) wants Meir to send Rivka away and take another wife.
Meanwhile, Rivka's sister Malka (Meital Barda) is far more interested in the outside world. Still, she agrees to go through with an arranged marriage. We have seen few things on the big screen as upsetting as the scenes of her wedding night.
When Meir and Rivka go their separate ways and Rivka begins to sink into depression, Malka reacts by turning her back on everything she once held dear. It is an expensive form of freedom.
Kadosh is a beautifully made and balanced film, and not the indictment of orthodoxy that it may sound.
This is the third movie from Amos Gitai to focus on his native Israel via an inside look at three of the country's largest cities; Devarim was set in Tel Aviv and Yom Yom in Haifa.
In Kadosh he examines conflict between individual and community, and pays homage to the people of Mea She'arim who shore up their lives and values with religion. The district does not welcome tourists and all must adhere to the rules.
But according to the director, the fate of women in such societies is always a problem. Kadosh has political and religious and historical elements, but it is also a love story (and a tragedy) and is told from the women's perspective. Where do love and emotion fit into the strict dictates of any religious community?
One could always ask the students at Bob Jones University, of course.
Kadosh is an intelligent and transporting picture and, speaking of rituals, it is time well spent at the movies.
(This film is rated AA)
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