Arranged (2007)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Directors:

Diane Crespo
Stefan C. Schaefer

Writers:

Stefan C. Schaefer (story)
Stefan C. Schaefer (written by)

Release Date:

9 January 2009 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Friendship Has No Religion

Plot:

ARRANGED centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn...

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Arranged Marriage | Muslim | Jewish | Cross Cultural Friendship

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

Zoe Lister Jones	...	Rochel Meshenberg
Francis Benhamou	...	Nasira Khaldi
Mimi Lieber	...	Sheli Meshenberg
John Rothman	...	Matan Meshenberg
Sarah Lord	...	Naomi Meshenberg
Trevor Braun	...	Avi Meshenberg
Doris Belack	...	Elona
Laith Nakli	...	Abdul-Halim Khaldi
Jason Liebman	...	Gideon
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Principal Jacoby
Peggy Gormley	...	Miriam
David Castro	...	Eddie
Sanjit De Silva	...	Jamil
Daniel London	...	Elliot
Max Shulman	...	Seth

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Arabic

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Cicala Filmworks

Trivia:

The film was shot in 17 days, during a heat wave where temps in New York hit 115 degrees.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene with both women in the car (on the way to the cemetery), the items on the back window (behind Rochel) change position from cut to cut - most notable is a newspaper.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Teacher: We're forced to handle the challenges of ESL. Different cultural traditions, everything they enter the classroom with, serious family dysfunctions. Basically our schools, New York city schools, are one big experiment, one big laboratory in this exercise we call the American Experience...

The best film at SXSW 2007

I had no idea what to expect when I walked into this film at SXSW. All I knew was that it was about a Muslim and a Jew who become friends. I figured it would be some kind of Movie of the Week type film with a sentimental "let's all get along" message, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated and interesting than that.

The main plot is that an Orthodox Jew (Zoe Lister Jones) and a Muslim (Frances Benhamou) work at a public school together, and find that their conservative lifestyles and impending arranged marriages make them have more in common with each other than anybody else at the school... even though Jews and Muslims as groups historically have some problems with each other.

It establishes the worlds of Orthodox Judaism and Islam so pitch-perfectly that the movie is fascinating just on the level of observing the lives of others. Though, to be sure, Orthodox Judaism does seem to get a bit more screen time, probably because the writer and the director both have more direct experience with Judaism than Islam. What we do see of both worlds is rife with similarities: both are marked by a reverence for history and tradition, and both are somewhat suspicious of people not members of their particular group. What the two lead women in this film hope to do is embrace the first part of their identities, while rejecting the second part.

Because this story is more concerned with character than multiple plot points, it would have failed without good performances. Luckily, the filmmakers found Lister-Jones and Benhamou to play the Jewish woman and the Muslim woman, respectively. They turn in two flawless performances, and prove themselves to be actresses to watch.