Hatuna Meuheret (2001)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Dover Koshashvili

Writer:

Dover Koshashvili (writer)

Release Date:

24 October 2001 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes, love doesn't conquer all.

Plot:

Zaza is a 31-year old Israeli bachelor, handsome and intelligent, and his family wants to see him married...

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Bachelor | Superstition | Georgia Europe | Arranged Marriage

Awards:

18 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Lior Ashkenazi	...	Zaza (as Lior Louie Ashkenazi)
Ronit Elkabetz	...	Judith
Moni Moshonov	...	Yasha
Lili Koshashvili	...	Lili
Aya Steinovitz	...	Ilana
Rosina Kambus	...	Magouly (as Rozina Cambus)
Simon Chen	...	Simon
Sapir Kugman	...	Madona
Dina Doron	...	Luba
Leonid Kanevsky	...	Otary
Libia Hakmon	...	Margalita (as Libia Hakmon-Ayali)
Eli Turi	...	Bessik
Maria Ovanov	...	Lali
Orit Buchnik Sher
Rivka Gur

Also Known As:

Late Marriage (International: English title)
Mariage tardif (France)

Runtime:

102 min | Canada:98 min (DVD)

Country:

Israel | France

Language:

Georgian | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:18 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:AL | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Canada:R | Australia:MA (cable rating)

Company:

Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Historia Shel Hakolnoah Israeli (2009)

Yente, find me a young wife!

Late Marriage is one of the best Israeli films in many years. It is to the credit of director Dover Kashashivili to translate it to the screen into one of the frankest depiction of a love affair seen in recent memory. The director avoids the clichés of other films that pretend to show a sexual relationship between two lovers in a a film. He doesn't leave anything to our imagination as the characters of this story clearly show us.

The two main actors, Lior Ashkenazi, Zaza, and Ronit Elkabetz, the Judith of the story, are mature individuals who obviously feel a passionate love for one another. They're powerless against the wishes of Zaza's family who are hell bent into separating them. Never mind that is very obvious how both feel about each other. She's an older divorcée who obviously will be the ruin of the scholarly Zaza.

Both Mr. Ashkenazy and Ms. Elkabetz could give acting lessons to our repressed so-called movie stars. Their passion is on the surface for us to see and feel. What we really enjoyed was the way these two actors act against each other in what could have been very embarrassing scenes. They pulled it off with panache.

The ensemble cast is very good, but of course, they don't come close to the stars who take the film and run away with it. Let's hope we can see more of them in other Israeli films.

Mazel tov!