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| DIRECTED BY |
| Dover Koshashvili
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| STARRING |
| Lior Ashkenazi |
| Ronit Elkabetz |
| Aya Steinovitz |
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Warning: Spoiler in Third Paragraph
If one can't accept what an arrogant, selfish, idiotic, and narcissistic jerk this film�s main character is, then they�ll have trouble appreciating it. �Late Marriage� begins by showing us the Israeli marriage custom � for a family to choose a wife for their son. Actually, he probably wouldn't be so much of a jerk if it weren't for the adamant 'traditions' that he has to deal with. Zaza (the son) is actually already with a woman (who he actually loves,) yet he goes ahead and attempts to court the girl who their family wants him to marry anyway. This took some time for me to get my head around � it would make a lot more sense to simply reject the marriage, but Zaza doesn�t want to disappoint his family. Therefore, the plan was to get married and routinely cheat on his wife.
It may take some time to get used to the soap opera-like atmosphere and bland cinematography of �Late Marriage,� but the film�s greatest asset is that it depicts the central relationship with complete earnestness and without candy coating it � everything seems quite genuine.
The message that we�re finally given is that familial love is stronger than any love (apparently no matter how ridiculous these particular traditions are � sorry Israel, but they just aren�t right.) The ending is pretty unsatisfying. Even if it�s ultimately the more realistic route � I couldn�t help but feel that Zaza should�ve just completely rebelled. Nonetheless � even if the film never really makes clear whether or not it�s for or against these traditions � I still appreciate the seriocomic insight that it gives into this foreign culture.
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