A very hard to watch film with absolutely no cinematic enjoyment experience. Discomfort built to anger then lead to rage and finally exasperation. All to be endured throughout the length of the film, from the first to the last second. The questions and answers are silly and trivial. They are more to demonstrate position of power or details for juicy gossiping than the actual intentions of getting to the bottom of the issue. The topic at hand is important and the whole movie could be much more powerful only if it had a better scriptwriter with better lines/script to help in shinning its subject matter. Or maybe, that is intentional because it's a true reflection of these real life dramas.The "Gett" practice is abhorrently barbaric with disgustingly unjust outcomes. Things to take away from this movie: 1. Living in Israel as woman, it's best to not get entangled into a marriage. 2. Israel is without civil marriage laws and in this aspect it is not a civilized society as we tend to think, especially when it comes to women's rights or just basic human rights. 3. In this day and age, Jewish women are still living with injustice and maltreatment, under a male controlled society, as much as they did in ancient time or as in backward third world countries. 4. The ridiculousness of religion and religious leaders' perspective/understanding on the matters of male and female relationships. 5. The obtuse mentality of these Jewish rabbis and their fanatical followers. 6. The cruelty of men when love is the excuse with religious rules and social customs are the treatments using for their own selfishness and their lack of empathy. By now, we all should see the importance of separation between religion and state, religious leaders and state affairs, religious rules and civil laws.

Is this movie supposed to be a comedy? An entire community of mentally challenged individuals seemingly incapable of understanding what it means to testify on someone's behalf? Each witness for the wife made the most ridiculous and laugh out loud statements, and each one eventually or in whole discrediting the wife. The rabbis (Learned men indeed) made no sense, and blatant lying was completely acceptable for them. I think the movie could have made it's point while captivating the audience if it didn't resort to turning each character into a caricature. Not one witness seemed to understand the impact their statements had against the person they were there to support. It just made me feel sorry that this entire society is built on ignorance. The lawyers, the wife, the husband, the witnesses, the rabbis - IGNORANT.

A splendid, superbly acted, intelligently written film, about a nasty divorce proceeding lasting years in Israel. Wife versus husband is not unique, but in this case the struggle defines a culture. But the producers should fire those who were responsible for the subtitles. White subtitles on a white background are close to impossible to read. And the speed with which the subtitles appeared and disappeared was comparably frustrating. Given this flaw, not quite fatal, it was troubling to appreciate the subtlety and intelligence of the film itself. And that weakens the best intentions of all involved in making the film. Too bad. Given that inevitable frustration, the film does more than simply survive. Its impact is remarkable, once again suggesting that understatement in the expression of a vital subject works better than any hard line fury. This film is instructive for all filmmakers. In summary, I would recommend it to the widest range of friends and film scholars.

Greetings again from the darkness. Personal views on Politics and Religion are purposefully avoided in my film reviews as I prefer to view the work from the perspective of art and storytelling. Sometimes, however, a film exposes such an injustice that stifling one's opinions is just not practical. Such is the case with this latest from the brother-sister co-directing and co-writing team of Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz.This is the final piece to the creative siblings' trilogy on Israeli marriage that began with To Take a Wife (2004), and was followed by 7 Days (2008). That's right, the two characters of husband Elisha (Simon Ebkarian) and wife Viviane (played by director Ronit Elkabetz who was also in the excellent 2007 film The Band's Visit) have been followed through the stages of marriage, separation, and now divorce court. Only their divorce court is not what most of the world thinks of when we hear that term. In Israel, divorce is not a civil matter, but rather falls under Jewish law and the proceedings are overseen by a triumvirate of rabbinical judges. If that's not difficult enough to stomach … it's the husband who holds ALL the power. The husband must agree to grant his wife the divorce. Without his permission, the judges can do nothing and the wife is bound to the marriage.With the story unfolding almost exclusively in the bleak courtroom, Viviane trudges through delays, no-shows, desperate negotiations, and other time-wasters; only occasionally succumbing to an outburst, rather than her usual quiet dignity. Elisha maintains a seemingly proud and determined look when he does show for hearings, only periodically shooting a look of disgust at his wife. His confidence stems from the power in knowing that grounds for divorce do not include irreconcilable differences. The camera work puts us right in the courtroom and we soon recognize Elisha's mannerisms as not just passive-aggressive, but also manipulative and misguided. He is not an awful man, but this is an awful marriage.Long a fan of courtroom dramas, I was mesmerized by the dumbfounding process as well as the stellar performances, excellent script and POV camera work. Ms Elkabetz is terrific as Viviane, and her work is complimented by Mr Ebkarian as her husband, Sasson Gabay as his brother and advocate, and Menashe Noy as her advocate and admirer. The film is a strange blend of hypnotic and infuriating and heart-breaking. It's uncomfortable to watch, but one we can't turn away from … especially as Viviane shouts "You don't see me!" to the judges.