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Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

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Overview

An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) seeking to finalize a divorce (gett) from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws, in this powerhouse 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, which is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for three years but her religiously devout husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian of CASINO ROYALE and PERSEPOLIS), continually refuses. His cold intransigence, Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the rabbinical judges shape a procedure where tragedy vies with absurdity and everything is brought out into the open for judgment. Winner of the Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award for Best Picture and propelled by the craft of Ronit Elkabetz (LATE MARRIAGE, THE BAND’S VISIT), one of Israeli cinema’s most acclaimed actresses, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem is an uncompromising, heart-rending portrait of a woman’s struggle to overcome an unmoving patriarchy and live a life of her own design.

Reactions, Awards & Festivals

Critics Pick! “Gripping cinema from start to finish...assured, streamlined and bold”

Manohla Dargis

The New York Times

“Provocative...impossible to forget.”

Betsy Sharkey

Los Angeles Times

“Quivers with tension, impatience, comic heat, and, beneath it all, an irrepressible rage...Ronit Elkabetz, in her ability to compel and hold the eye, has few rivals”

Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

“Brilliant."

David Edelstein

New York Magazine

5 stars! “A feminist knockout.”

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out NY

3 ½ stars! “Riveting.”

Farran Smith Nehme

NY Post

“Rarely does a film integrate a social and political message within a forceful drama as masterfully as Gett.”

Christopher Silvester

Newsweek

“Expertly written, brilliantly acted...The beautifully modulated script, ripe with moments of liberating humor, builds to a crescendo of indignation, allowing Elkabetz several cathartic outbursts, but they’re no more riveting than the actress’ silences.”

Jay Weissberg

Variety

“Densely rich drama, told with stringent austerity but also humor and judicious empathy...an altogether strange but astonishing work of craftsmanship.”

Leslie Felperin

The Hollywood Reporter

“A very suspenseful courtroom drama. The performances are quite perfect.”

Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

“Mesmerizing.”

Peter Sobczynski

RogerEbert.com

"Fascinating."

Dan Fainaru

Screen Daily

Academy Awards 2015 - Official Foreign Language Submission

Golden Globe Awards 2015 - Best Foreign Language Film Nominee

Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2014 - Directors' Fortnight Feature Competition

Winner! Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award - Best Picture

Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Film

Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Audience Favorite Award

Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Best Actor, Menashe Noy

Winner! Hamptons International Film Festival 2014 - Golden Starfish Award for Best Narrative Feature

Winner! Chicago International Film Festival 2014 - Silver Hugo for Best Screenplay

Cast & Crew
  • Viviane : Ronit Elkabetz
  • Carmel : Menashe Noy
  • Elisha : Simon Abkarian
  • Shimon : Sasson Gabay
  • Main Judge : Eli Gorstein
  • Clerk : Gabi Amrani
  • 1st Deputy : Rami Danon
  • 2nd Deputy : Roberto Pollack
  • Directors : Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
  • Screenwriters : Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz
  • Producers : Marie Masmonteil, Sandrine Brauer, Shlomi Elkabetz
  • Co-producers : Denis Carot, Michael Eckelt
  • Director of Photography : Jeanne Lapoirie
Technical Info
  • Production Year : 2014
  • Release Date : February 13, 2015
  • Countries of Production : Germany, Israel
  • Languages : Hebrew, Arabic
  • Running Time : 115 Minutes
  • Screen Ratio : 1.85:1
  • Sound : Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Color : Yes
  • Rating : Not Rated
DVD/Blu-Ray Special Features
  • Making of Documentary
  • The Cinema of GETT: An Interview with Shlomi Elkabetz
  • 2015 Golden Globes Symposium
  • PRX Radio Interview with Shlomi Elkabetz
  • Collector’s Booklet including an essay by Anthony Kaufman