Before I got married again, my first wife and I went through the ritual of getting a Jewish divorce called a gett. We were already legally divorced so it was just a formality, and I found it to be an interesting one. We had to talk to a group of rabbi judges in the Rabbinical Court of Los Angeles and then a scribe had to painstakingly write the Hebrew document in front of us in calligraphy using an old-fashioned quill. The paper was then folded up and I had to drop it into my ex-wife’s hands. Following the divorce, according to Jewish law, I was permitted to remarry immediately while my ex-wife had to wait at least 92 days (in case any issues of paternity were to arise). For us, our marriage was long over and we were both there quite willingly so the exotic ceremony was kind of fun. But it’s a much different case for Israeli women for whom a gett is the only way to get a divorce. If the husband is not in full agreement, the woman is simply out of luck. Because of this, there have been many horror stories of women who are forced to stay married in horrible circumstances. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalam is a new Israeli film that powerfully depicts this dilemma.
An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) seeking a divorce from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws in this riveting courtroom drama from sibling directors Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. In Israel, there is neither civil marriage nor civil divorce; only Orthodox rabbis can legalize a union or its dissolution, and in most cases that is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for several years but her religiously devout husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian) continually refuses. His infuriating intransigence combined with Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom and the sometimes confusing role of the rabbinical judges reveal a procedure where tragedy often meets absurdity and everything is fodder for judgment.
Winner of the Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award for Best Picture, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalam is an uncompromising, heart-rending portrait of a woman’s struggle to overcome an unmoving patriarchy and live a life of her own design. I sat down with brother and sister Ronit and Shlomi Alkabetz to discuss this film which has been causing quite a stir in Israel.
Danny Miller: This is such an intense, suspenseful film despite the fact that it all takes place essentially in one courtroom. Did you consider opening it up a bit to show us other aspects of Viviane’s life?
Shlomi Elkabetz: We maybe discussed it once or twice, but once we sat down to write the script, it never came up.
Ronit Elkabetz: At this point Viviane’s life is truly like a prison. Because of that, I couldn’t imagine showing her anywhere but behind these closed doors. The sad truth is that while she is going through this process over many years, she has no life at all.
I understand that this film is part of a trilogy. We first meet Viviane in To Take a Wife (2004) and then again in 7 Days (2008). Is there anything we learn about Viviane in those earlier films that would change how we experience her in this film?
Shlomi: Honestly, everything you need to know about Viviane you have in Gett. But it’s true the other two films help you get to know her better.
I noticed that the character of the husband, played by Simon Abkarian, has a different name in this film. Why is that?
Ronit: We changed the name of Eliyahu to Elisha for a personal reason. Eliyahu is our actual father’s name and as we were getting ready to make this film, we decided we didn’t like that so we changed it. But he is the same character and Viviane is absolutely the same women in al three films.
I think even people here who are familiar with Jewish divorces may not realize how different it is in Israel — how the woman is completely at the mercy of whether her husband agrees to it or not. Is there a movement in Israel today to change this practice and institute civil divorces?
Shlomi: I’m not sure if I’d call it an official movement but there are different groups that have been working for change. There are political parties who have proposed changes to the law but they have never gotten very far in Parliament.
Because of the dominance of ultra-religious groups in the government?
In a way, yes, but it’s much more profound than that — it has to do with everybody in our society, not just the religious people. But now with our movie Gett, it’s the first time something really exciting is happening. The movie is creating a movement without us even asking for it. The Chief Rabbi of Israel was repeatedly asked if he saw the film when it was at the cinemas in Israel. After being pressed a few times, he finally said, “Okay, we’re going to screen the film for all the judges in the rabbinical courts.” That is happening next month and it’s very big news because it’s the first time in centuries that they’ve agreed to come to the table to see what can be done — to see how these laws might be adapted to modern life.
Wow, that’s amazing. When the film first came out in Israel, did you face a lot of criticism from some quarters?
Ronit: Actually, not at all, it was extraordinary. So many people embraced the film and wanted to talk about it. They wanted to understand and ask questions. It was really something quite unbelievable, I don’t remembering hearing even a single critic speak out against the film. Our society was completely open to our “bomb.” There are so many people who have suffered under these laws.
If Viviane could have shown that Elisha had been violent with her, would that have been enough for the rabbis to grant a divorce without his consent?
Shlomi: No. Even violence is not “reasonable grounds” for a divorce.
What?! Then what is?
If he did not supply her with a roof over her head, if he did not supply her with food, or if he did not provide sex. Those are the three grounds for granting a divorce against an unwilling husband.
But he can beat her up and that’s okay?
Ronit: I mean, I don’t think they would say it’s “okay” in their eyes, but it’s not a valid reason for them to grant the divorce. Even battered women in Israel face a lot of difficulties in getting out of their marriages.
Ronit, your performance in this film is extraordinary. Some of the nonverbal things your character does are truly amazing — like the scene in which Viviane slowly removes the bobby pins from her hair and lets it down. That was such an intense moment.
Yes, that was an incredibly important moment for Viviane. She is so tired that day, she is feeling particularly hopeless, she has no idea whether she can continue in that agonizing process that has been going on for so long. And then, all of a sudden, she has this one moment where she wakes up a little bit and realizes who she is. It’s in the middle of one of the many fights between the lawyers and it wasn’t planned, but in that moment she finds herself undoing her hair and taking a little bit of her power back. And it’s at that moment that she knows that she’s going to win, no matter how long it takes.
It’s implied a few times in the film that there may be something going on between Viviane and her lawyer, Carmel (played by Menashe Noy).
Ah, but she cannot allow herself any kind of affair. If she did, she would lose all of her rights. There is nothing actually happening between them but look, feelings are feelings. I’m sure Carmel loves her in a way but he has never told her this. I’m sure she’s attracted to him as well but she’s simply not free to experience that. Viviane is stuck in every way — physically and spiritually.
Did you get a lot of feedback from people who have been through this process?
Yes, so many people. And before we made the film we showed the script to lawyers who deal with this every day, both male and female. They all said that it was completely accurate, but, if anything, we were being too gentle with them because these courts are often much ,ore aggressive than what we show. This is a very violent place for women.
I recently interviewed twin brothers who directed a film together but I’ve never talked to brother and sister writer/directors. Do you two have a shorthand together when you work?
Shlomi: We grew up in the same house, we have the same smells and memories, so on the one hand, we share a lot. But on the other hand, life brought us to very different places and we ended up with very different points of view on many subjects. The journey we took together making this film was very exciting.
Ronit: It’s really wonderful working together. As Shlomi said, we have very different views about life. I’m a woman and he’s a man and we were able to discover things that I’m not sure two men or two women writing together would be able to discover.
I really hope the film helps start a change for Israeli women who find themselves in Viviane’s position.
And it’s not just Israeli women. This is a situation women around the world have had to face since the beginning of time. People can relate to this film on many different levels which is why I think it sold so quickly to so many countries after we showed it at Cannes. As shocking as it is, the film touches on things that are happening in one way or another in many parts of the world. It’s such an unbelievable story to be taking place in our modern society.