Among the
many advantages afforded to attendees of the Chicago International Film
Festival is a chance to see a number of films from foreign countries that are
currently in the running for next year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
This year’s program includes 15 films that have been named the official
selection for their respective countries, including such eagerly-anticipated
titles as Belgium’s “Two Days, One Night,” Sweden’s “Force
Majeure” and Turkey’s “Winter Sleep.” Two of the other potential
nominees from this year’s crop, Germany’s “Beloved Sisters” and
Israel’s “Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” also have a Chicago
connection in that both have been picked up for U.S. distribution by
locally-based distributor Music Box Films.

Directed
by Dominik Graf, and set in Western Europe during the end of the 18th and
beginning of the 19th centuries, “Beloved
Sisters”
is a jumbo-sized historical drama/romance focusing on the
intriguing relationship between writer/philosopher Friedrich Schiller (Florian
Stotter) and the two Lengefeld sisters—one, Charlotte (Henriette
Confurius), who would become his wife, and the other, Caroline (Hannah
Herzsprung), who would become his biographer. Although little tangible proof of
the true nature of what transpired between the three has survived in the
ensuing years, the film goes along with the theory that the three were involved
in a ménage a trois in which
Charlotte was Friedrich’s official wife and Caroline his lover (with
Charlotte’s full consent), an agreement that brought happiness to all concerned
at first but which would eventually strain the seemingly unshakable bond
between the two sisters.

“Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem” is the third film in a
trilogy by filmmaking siblings Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz, following “To
Take a Wife,” which chronicled the bitter end of the 20-year marriage
between Viviane (Ronit Elkabetz) and her husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian), and
“Seven Days,” which followed their separation. Here, Viviane is
seeking a divorce from Elisha, but Elisha, in what appears to be yet another
passive-aggressive attempt to control her life, refuses to grant it to her.
This is a problem because in Israel, marriage and divorce are handled through
religious courts that are tilted almost entirely in favor of men; women have
virtually no recourse in regards to a contested divorce. Over the next five
years, depicted in minute and unsparing detail, Viviane and her lawyer
repeatedly return to court to fight for her right to divorce against a husband
who oftentimes simply refuses to come to court (necessitating more delays), and
a trio of judges who are locked into a ruling system in which women have no
real rights to speak of; they repeatedly suggest that she return to Elisha to
work things out.

Of the
two films, “Beloved Sisters” is the more conventional entertainment
and with its lavish mounting (which will no doubt remind many viewers of
Barry Lyndon,” which takes place during roughly the same time
period) and 170-minute-long running time, it has the kind of epic look and feel
that may resonate with Academy voters. The flaw with the film is that for a
story about a romantic triangle to have any chance at success, all three legs
of the triangle have to be interesting and compelling. Here, the relationship
between the two sisters—with Charlotte feeling
indebted to Caroline for having married solely for financial reasons to help
rescue their family fortunes—is undeniably interesting and
the performances from Herzsprung and Confurius are both quite good, with the
latter especially striking in what appears to be the less showy of the two
parts until she comes blazingly alive in the later reels. Alas, as the shared
object of their affections, Stetter is simply kind of bland and forgettable—after watching Charlotte and Caroline consumed with their
shared love and desire for this guy, most viewers will find themselves thinking
Him?” 

As for
“Gett,” it is a much pricklier cinematic experience at times but it
is an altogether more rewarding one in the end. Even though I must admit to
being absolutely nowhere near the target audience for the film—having never been Jewish, married, or divorced, nor even
realizing that it was the third film in a trilogy until after seeing it—I nevertheless found myself pretty much mesmerized by every
frame of it. This is an angry film but it is one that doesn’t overplay its hand
by underlining every single point that it has to make in an overly melodramatic
fashion. Instead, by letting its tale unfold in its grindingly slow fashion, it
allows viewers to share in Viviane’s growing anger towards a system that hardly
seems to notice that she exists, and when her frustration does boil over into
such acts as wearing a red dress to court or letting her hair down during the
proceedings—innocent acts to most people
but anathema in the eyes of those bearing judgment on her—the effect is quietly stunning, largely due to Ronit
Elkabetz’s incredible performance, a turn that deserves serious consideration
for the festival’s Best Actress prize.

Admittedly,
the rigid formal style of the film—the harsh and unsparing gaze
of the camera and the decision to set the entire thing within the courtroom
walls–and the increasingly maddening behavior by Elisha may wind up driving
some viewers to want to tear their hair out in frustration. Of course, as the
Elkabetzs might point out, that is exactly the point, and exactly the kind of
thing that too many Israeli women have to face in real life for no other reason
than the circumstances of their gender.

“Beloved
Sisters” screens at 7:15 PM on October 12 with co-star Florian Statter
scheduled to attend.

“Gett: The
Trial of Viviane Amsalem” screens at 8:15 PM on October 13 and 8:00 PM on
October 14 with co-director Shlomi Elkabetz scheduled to attend. 

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around bon vivant, Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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