Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie Review

Playing hard to gett.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 20, 2015

The so-called “speedy trial clause” that’s part of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution supposedly guarantees Americans the right to fast jurisprudence, but as any number of news stories through the years has more than adequately proven, alacrity is not one of the United States’ judicial system’s regular offerings. Even those grown jaundiced over such horror stories as the poor kid kept in solitary confinement at Rikers for three years before he was even granted a hearing, and who ultimately committed suicide (after his release) may blanch a bit at the long gestating course of affairs documented in the fascinating Israeli-French co-production Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem. Jewish marriage has both a religious and civic component, at least here in America. When, for example, I married my wife, our officiating Rabbi informed us that we were officially “hitched” after the Ketubah, the marriage contract, was signed, and that was well before any ceremony had been held or civic marriage certificate had been signed. In Israel, however, there is only the religious side of Jewish marriage and, hence, divorce. Therefore, dissolution of a marriage, at least in some more orthodox circles, is handled by a court of Rabbis who have to conform to the proscriptions of the Halakha, the sum total of Jewish religious laws (and, folks, there are a lot of them—you folks who only have to worry about a mere Ten Commandments should consider yourselves lucky). Adding complexity to the situation is the fact that Halakha includes not just the Torah that was written but an oral component as well. As might not be that surprising given the patriarchal roots of Judaism, a divorce proceeding tends to be weighted in favor the husband quite a bit of the time, with the male of any coupling actually able to more or less simply say “no” should a wife ask for a divorce. That’s a central issue in Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem, wherein a husband (from a long line of rabbis) indulges in a whole slew of delaying tactics while also pretty much just saying ‘no’ on the occasions when he’s forced into court to respond to his wife.

The Hebrew word gett (also transliterated get) provides a bit of trans-language irony, for though it refers to the divorce document which is a necessary element to dissolve a marriage, it can be—well, hard to get, especially for women. The arcane strata of rules and regulations subsuming what should on its face be a relatively simple request (“let me out of this marriage”) makes the process of attaining a divorce in Israel something of an obstacle course, especially if, as is detailed in the film, the husband isn’t in an especially cooperative mood. The very fact that the gett is issued to the husband, who in turn presents it to his (now ex) wife is at least one indication of how these things can go in the weirdly rigorous but seemingly capricious (at least to our modern eyes) world of halakha.

Why Viviane (Ronit Elkabetz, also the film’s co-writer and co-director, along with her brother Shlomi) wants out of her long marriage to Elijah (Simon Abkarian) isn’t immediately made clear, but it’s obvious from the get go that Viviane is a frustrated, extremely unhappy woman. The film nimbly details Viviane’s “place” in the hierarchy of the divorce proceeding by not even showing her for several minutes, as both Elijah and the board of rabbis discuss Elijah’s refusal to grant Viviane a divorce. Viviane’s energetic if exasperated attorney, Carmel Ben-Tovim (Menashe Noy), keeps insisting the rabbis have more than enough cause (“grounds,” as the chief rabbi keeps stating) to grant the divorce, but the rabbis are unswayed, insisting that Viviane return home to Elijah to see if things can be worked out.

The roiling dysfunctions of the Amsalems were previously documented in 2004’s To Take a Wife and 2007’s 7 Days, though Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem has no problem making itself clear as a standalone property (I was previously unaware of the first two films until I started doing research for this review, and I certainly had no problem understanding this film). The basic emotional arc is completely accessible, probably especially for western women who will be aghast at the power and control the males in this film seem to enjoy from an almost genetic standpoint. Viviane simply wants to be free to chart her own course, and in fact she has supported herself for years as a beautician (something the rabbis of course find somewhat objectionable, as it keeps her from being a “good wife and mother”). Her desires to escape from the strictures of orthodoxy (as evidenced by her demand that Elisha not wear his kipah out in public) serve as a microcosmic example of women everywhere attempting to achieve self determination.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem simply charts the course of various court proceedings over a span of several years, as Viviane and Carmel repeatedly try to get the rabbis to force Elijah to grant the divorce, but Elijah stubbornly refuses. Despite the inherently repetitive nature of the proceedings, the film is incredibly compelling, with Elkabetz communicating as much through her wounded eyes as she does in a couple of remarkably visceral monologues (and/or rants, depending on your point of view). (Elkabetz reminded me quite a bit of Valeria d’Obici as Fosca in Passione d’amore and even Donna Murphy in Passion, the Sondheim musicalization of the same source, which is a little ironic since Fosca is obsessively pursuing a relationship in that property.) Despite the overall dour demeanor of the film, there’s also some remarkably facile if low key comedy, especially once the combatants start calling character witnesses, some of whom go spectacularly off the rails during their questioning and testimony.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem is something of an emotional gauntlet, as it appears virtually certain until close to the film’s final moments that Viviane will not get what she’s seeking. Carmel’s repeated mantra, “It’s useless, Viviane,” plays out underneath one of her final, impassioned statements before the board of rabbis. Somehow Elkabetz manages to make Viviane strong and even noble despite the character’s devolution into a more traditionally “hysterical” emotional state. Elijah may hold the “power” to grant the divorce, but Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem proves quite admirably that Viviane is going to be in control of her own destiny, come hell, high water, or indeed pontificating rabbis.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. From a physical production standpoint, this film is pretty minimalist, with the bulk of the proceedings playing out in the unadorned room where the rabbinic court holds its proceedings. That starkness in locale means that nothing ever really "pops" in any meaningful way in this presentation, though that is not to say that there's a lack of detail and fine detail, especially since the Elkabetz siblings and their DP Jeanne Lapoirie favor extreme close-ups a lot of the time. Colors are somewhat subdued, with Viviane often clad in plain black. Patterns on weaves like Elijah's natty suit jacket or even the kipot the men wear are easily discernable and add some palpable texture to the presentation. There are no issues with image instability (see my note in the supplements section) and while not a visual "wow" in any sense, this high definition presentation is solid and appealing.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much like the visual presentation, the audio aspect of Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem is similarly restrained a lot of the time, something that probably tends to mitigate much difference between the included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks (our specs only allow for one language, but the film actually traffics back and forth between French, Hebrew and Arabic). Dialogue (and this is entirely a dialogue driven film) is rendered cleanly and clearly, with no problems whatsoever. A few intemperate outbursts from the combatants offers a bit of dynamic range along the way.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Gett (1080p; 39:00) features quite a bit of interesting behind the scenes footage, including cast and crew discussing the film's content and more whimsical elements like the prop master's unhappiness with various tchokes on the set. The snippets from the film sometimes exhibit some image instability which is not present during the actual feature presentation.


• The Cinema of Gett: An Interview with Shlomi Elkabetz (1080p; 22:26) is a very interesting interview with the co-writer and co-director of the film, brother of star and collaborator Ronit Elkabetz.


• 2015 Golden Globes Symposium (1080i; 12:42) is a January 2014 Q&A which took place at the Egyptian in Los Angeles with Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz. There's some prevalent video noise on this featurette.


• PRX Behind the Scenes Radio Interview with Shlomi Elkabetz and Andrea Chase (26:34)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:47)

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My father was raised in an extremely orthodox environment, to the point that as a means of escape from all the strictures it had imposed he pretty much jettisoned his Judaism once he became an adult. And he was a guy. Imagine the suffocating experience of modern day Jewish women trying to dig themselves out from under several millennia of arcane laws, not the least of which is "submitting" to their husband's will when they have the temerity to ask for a divorce. Perhaps surprisingly, then, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem manages not to sound like a screed, and in fact infuses its obviously sad tale with several beautiful touches of humanity and (most unexpectedly of all) humor. Performances are astoundingly visceral, technical merits are generally great, and Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem comes Highly recommended.