Customer Reviews

The Secrets

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Call it an acquired taste. First of all I am Jewish and I have spent a considerable amount of time studying its religious texts...Thus a film about the process of analyzing scripture or the Talmud is likely to find favor in my eyes whereas others might gravitate towards science fiction or romantic comedy.

I thought "The Secrets" was one of the best dramas to arrive from Israel...but it is not in the mold of a holocaust memory film, a war film, or an exploration of ethnic tensions.

The movie is about personal choices, moral choices, partner choices. Ostensibly it revolves around a story of Noemi, a very bright young woman - a daughter of an important rabbi in the Orthodox community - who asks to study for one more year rather than rush into a marriage dictated by her father,

She first approaches problems as a "know-it-all", and then discovers that others have answers, even to tough religious and moral questions. Through that process, she develops a deep, let's say, intimate relationship with another young woman, Michal, in the Orthodox seminary. But this movie is not really about a same-sex relationship as it it about making choices...some of those choices carry great personal baggage and some of those choices are entirely unorthodox.

All the performances are top notch. Two scenes stick out in my mind. In the first, Noemi is deep in the library analying the Talmud to find a way to help a troubled, mortally sick stranger repair her broken relationship to God. She does so even when the traditional rabbis have all but given up on the stranger. The second scene involves the prospective groom of Michal - a pharmacist who moonlights as a klezmer musician - who reveals great courage (and tolerance) in asking Noemi to come to his upcoming wedding. When he makes that request he knows that Noemi has been intimate with his bride. (How many us, religious or not, orthodox or not, could do that!)

A final remark. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I don't experience the ending of the film as negative. Just the opposite. In summary, "The Secrets" is not only an excellent movie, it is a meaningful one.

I bought this film based on supposed lesbian relationship discussed in the teaser. As I watched this well crafted and acted film, I was swept away by the intense storyline of a young woman pursuing her dream to become a rabbi, despite the misogynistic culture/religion of Orthodox Judaism. I also enjoyed the storyline of the two young women in a feminist seminary trying to give peace to an older woman who was dying of cancer, and had been rejected by the town. However, what really killed this movie for me was the very unhappy ending of the two female leads, who were supposedly in love. I have literally seen dozens of films and tv shows where two women who are in love can never lively happily ever after at the end of the show and this film fit that bitter and homophobic cliche to a 'T.' The romance between the two women might not have been important to anyone else but it was very important to me. I cried at the end of this movie because I was so bitterly disappointed.

The Secrets: A Film by Avi Nesher is a multiple award-winning movie about Naomi, the intelligent, faithful, and devoted daughter of an orthodox rabbi who must prepare for difficult choices in her life when her mother dies and she has to marry her father's prodigy. She begs her father for a year to study at a women's religious seminary to prepare for the sacrifices she must make as a wife and mother, and is permitted to do so. She befriends a schoolmate, Michelle, and a sickly older woman, Anouk (played by Fanny Ardant), who might be guilty of a terrible crime of passion. Naomi invents a progression of rituals designed to help Anouk release her sins, a process which brings Naomi and Michelle closer together - close enough to develop a forbidden attraction. An emotionally stirring tale, highly recommended. Special features include a "behind the scenes" video with subtitled actor interviews, deleted scenes, two music videos, and a photo gallery. Rated R, 127 minutes, Hebrew with English subtitles.

Unlike certain other movies one might think of (such as Kadosh and A Price Above Rubies), this film very sensitively and accurately portrayed Hareidi life. In spite of the crazies who grab all of the headlines with antics such as spraying bleach on women wearing pants and short skirts or violently protesting at the Jerusalem Intel because it's open on Shabbos, the reality is that most Hareidim are more along the lines of the people shown in this film. These characters are multi-faceted, and part of a community that is very warm, loving, and loyal to its own, even though certain of the characters test those limits of loyalty because of how they ultimately don't quite fit in. After her mother dies, the scholarly Naomi asks her father, who hasn't balked at teaching her Torah and Talmud, to postpone her marriage to Michael so she can study in seminary for a year. After initial hesitation, he relents and agrees to let Naomi study at a women's seminary in the holy and mystical city of Tzfat. This seminary turns out to be run by a Hareidi feminist hoping to provide higher education to young women and empower them in that way. As the headmistress tells Naomi in one scene, as Orthodox women their liberation is a lot more difficult than and different from the liberation of non-Orthodox women, because they have to work within certain strictures and change things much slower. Naomi is put with three roommates--Sheine, whom she meets on the bus; Sigi, a ba'alat teshuvah (newly religious) who later kind of goes off of the deep end (as sometimes happens with ba'alei teshuvah, going from one extreme to the other without enough time for slow transition), and the much more progressive and secular Michelle (Michal), who didn't go to the seminary of her own choosing but because her French parents wanted her to. The unlikely pair of Naomi and Michelle are soon bonding after being assigned to deliver food to a dying outcast Frenchwoman, Anouk, with a dark secret in her past and a desire to make amends within herself and with God before she passes on. Though traditionally one must be at least 40 years old, male, and married before starting to study Kabbalah, Naomi begins constructing a Tikun based on the teachings of the Arizal so that Anouk can achieve her hoped-for repentance. As the story progresses, Naomi also starts to have second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to Michael and instead falls in love with Michelle, who herself has caught the eye of the endearing Yanki, a clarinetist who, like Naomi and Michelle, also doesn't quite fit into Hareidi society.

Each character is portrayed so vividly that they come across like real people instead of stock characters or people acting out a script. I also liked how it took awhile for the story to unfold and for the characters to develop, even though my boyfriend didn't like how Naomi and Michelle didn't do anything physically until the film was about halfway through. Too many modern American movies are so predictable, with the viewer knowing within 15 minutes what's going to happen and who's going to end up with whom, but in this film, we don't immediately know what's going to happen, like if Naomi and Michelle will decide to live together as a lesbian couple, if Naomi will marry Michael or break the engagement, if Michelle and Yanki will end up together, what Anouk's backstory is and if she'll achieve peace and a sense of atonement, if the seminary will accept or disapprove of Michelle and Naomi's delving into Kabbalah. The story also illustrates, as the headmistress said, just how difficult it is to be female, feminist, and frum. As someone who's not Orthodox, it's easy to say they should just affiliate with Masorti (Conservative) or Liberal/Progressive (Reform) Judaism, or at least find a liberal Modern Orthodox community. This is their entire world, life, culture, identity. They can't just leave the only world they know how to exist in and relate to, even if they do test the outer limits of what's considered acceptable within that world. Someone as brilliant as Naomi faces an uphill battle in her desire to become a rabbi, unlike a woman in a non-Orthodox denomination who faces no opposition anymore to applying to rabbinical school. A lesbian relationship might not be prohibited by the Torah (as Naomi points out, it's never even mentioned in there) and only have a relatively mild Talmudic censure, but it's also not exactly easy to live as a fully frum person who is out of the closet. Yanki is a great person, but because he chose to be a klezmer musician instead of a rabbi or studying in kollel full-time his entire life, he isn't respected as much as someone like Michael. The film also leaves a number of questions to contemplate, as opposed to tying everything up with neat hospital corners and a stereotypical happy Hollywood ending.

Truly great all-around. Worth every penny and every minute watching this movie. A beautiful and emotional story of different worlds.

This movie makes you think, and it makes you hurt, and it makes you want to watch it again and again. Then in the end, you are still left wondering and pondering. Then, you watch it again, hoping that the end will be different this time through.

Just like life, this movie will not provide you with answers to all of the issues. The Secrets will leave you questioning:
-was there really a murder or did the human mob acted in a way of hysteria and condemned a woman to prison because of her decisions in life
-will Naomi and Michal continue their relationship even after her wedding?
-will Naomi's family ever know the true nature as to why she is not marrying Michael (her fiance), or will her father continue to ostracize her due to the fact that she wants to become a female Rabbi in the Ultra-Orthodox society.

And the list goes on and on. Yes, I was left with wonder after viewing this movie. More movies should be made using The Secrets as a template. Acting was subperb.

Worth it.

It has been such a long time since I have seen such poetry portrayed in cinema that I had almsot given up hope, until The Secrets was discovered and recommended by a friend. What a beautiful work of art with a soulful story. The human heart can be so complicated and take so many forms, yet in the end, it reduces itself down to the pure loving soul that all of us possess. The relationships portrayed in the movie are so profound and touching, like the main character Naomi, I too cried at the end.
Acting: I am speechless. Fanny Ardant, how great was she! Need I say more? The Israeli actresses Ania Bukstein and Michal Shlamter, by their own rights, should get a few awards for their performances.
The director, Avi Nesher, he saw talent, and ran with the talent.
The acting chemistries were great. I enjoyed every take, every scene, and the music, just great. Acting was key. What a great movie!
And if you're one who reads reviews to get summaries, here it is:
*SPOILER ALERT*
Death of a matriarchal figure in family.
Engaged Ultra-Orthodox Girl asks Ultra-Orthodox dad to postpone wedding.
Conversation followed (with great command of Biblical Law quotes), dad relents.
Girl goes to seminary studies in Safed
Girl meets ultra-chain-smoking secular Girl (who speaks French)
Girls dislike each other.
Girls get assigned as pair to deliver food to a French speaking-terminally-ill Lady (who requested a French speaking person.
Girls bumped into a clarinet player.
Secular Girl asks Orthodox Girls to help "cleanse" Lady prior to her death.
Girls like each other.
Clarinet guy likes Secular girl.
Orthodox Girl tell Secular Girl she cancelled wedding plans.
Cleansing went to stage 3 (there are 4 total, based on the new rituals that Orthodox Girl put together from teachings of a higher source)
Girls got into huge trouble.
Girls got separated.
Lady fell gravely ill and admitted to hospital.
Girls went to hospital to perform last stage of cleansing.
Girls expelled from studies, a classmate turned them in for heresy.
Girls met at apartment.
Secular Girl tell Orthodox Girl she is marrying Clarinet Guy.
Wedding
Orthodox Girl attends.
End.

"The Secrets" is a film about the many ways the ties of love can be tested, and about how boundaries can and, sometimes, cannot be crossed. It is also about courage, the courage to look within at one's naked self and, in the interest of justice and equality, to defy norms, or to try or even hope to change them.

If this sounds pretty deep for a film about lesbian love, that's because this film, like "The Gymnast," also supposed to be about lesbian love, is really about so much more than that, and yet, in both films, that sensual quality, once awakened, is subtly shared between the principal characters, simmering at the core, though, in "The Secrets," it's the purity of love that triumphs, as might be expected for a story that begins at a wake and ends at a wedding.

This Israeli film, nominated for eight Israeli Academy Awards, is set in Tel Aviv and Safed, Israel, and deep within the culture of Orthodox Judaism, with dialogue in Hebrew, and some French, subtitled in English. But, though the religious culture frames the story, it does not overpower to detract from the human challenges and circumstances in which the story is wrapped, and which are compelling enough to hold the viewers' interest. The subtitles, however, are faster than usual and will prohibit taking in the full measure of the settings and actors, except for speed-readers. But that is about the only technical flaw worth mentioning, and it is negated with the pause and re-wind buttons on the remote.

Avi Nesher's direction (who also co-produced, produced the music and, with Hadar Galron, co-wrote the screenplay) is, like "The Gymnast," without clumsiness in the sexual confrontation and, save one instance described below, is flawless, if the standard for that, and an excellent screenplay, are believable and wholly natural character portrayals by the cast, which is topped by Israeli beauties, Ania Bokstein, who plays "Naomi," the devout student of Kabbalah, and Michal Shtamler, who plays the rebellious, confrontational, "Michelle," the foil to Naomi.

The story centers around the two young, Israeli women, polar opposites, as they struggle to adapt to one another in a Jewish women's seminary, where one girl, Naomi, chose to be, while the other was sent by her parents, quite against her will. It would be too much to say more, other than the relationship between the two girls develops around circumstances of adultery, murder, and self-torture, which should be enough to lure the more basest among possible viewers, though it must be said that the blood shed in the film is slight, as is the clothing, though what is revealed there is not at all so slight in its beauty. And, there is some X-rated imagery, missed by the ratings board, made less than fleeting only through the use of those trusty rewind and pause controls.

It is in the dramatic interplay of the two opposed leads, Naomi and Michelle, where the film stumbles through its greatest weakness, which is eerily similar to, again, "The Gymnast," where the principle weakness was the swift transformation of the character playing the protagonist's husband. Now, to explain this further, spoilers follow, but for those who wish a verdict in order to decide whether to watch: do, because as with "The Gymnast," the weakness of this film is not fatal to the objectives of the story, the involvement of the viewer, or the film's value as worthy entertainment.

In drama, the turn of the story is expressed through the changes imposed upon the principal characters, and in "The Secrets," it is Michelle's character who seems too quickly to change, from confrontational opposite of Naomi to her bed-hugging friend and lover. Though it is likely that the interaction of the girls, in their mission to provide service to a dying ex-con, "Anuk," played with a portrayal of wrenching pain and need by French actress, Fanny Ardant, would provide the kind of bonding necessary to flip the extreme, initial characterization of Michelle, the film does not take us fully through the journey that transformation would require, though it is made clear that the transformation hinges, in great part, upon Michelle's growing respect for Naomi's intellect and spiritual devotion.

In the end, the hushed confidences in "The Secrets" are hardly worth whispering about as the paths of shared turmoil and pain end in something that is more enduring than romance and, well, worth shouting about.

I'm so surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. It really was like having a good strong cup of coffee in the morning after expecting a mediocre brew. As with the strong coffee, it awakens, it stimulates and it prepares one for the challenges of the day.

In "The Secrets" two beautiful young Jewish girls face the challenges of friendship, family and faith while trying to find their place in a male dominated orthodox Israel. I enjoyed watching the transformation that takes place in the girls and so many of the characters. It was like watching a revolution of beliefs and ideas tangling over a pure sparkling soul.

If you come to this movie thinking its all about lesbianism you'll be sadly mistaken. If all you get out of it is a lesson in lesbianism you've sadly cheated yourself. "The Secrets" embodies so much more than just a love story although there are multiple love stories in this movie. It reiterates old sayings like "question authority" and "seek thee truth" to young people as they begin on a journey toward adulthood.

Lastly, this movie is about redemptive truths. Finding God and not cowardly turning away from the truth. Its a movie that us men should see in order to be shaken and reawakened to the truths about women and the roles "we" assign them in our societies. All women are beautiful and deserving of more than we men can ever give them.

Brilliantly conceived, convincingly plotted and superbly acted!

"In music your always taught to play the traditional way, but sometimes the non-traditional way is the right way." Yanki in "The Secrets"

brilliant dvd. i was very keen to see this dvd. the story line was very well handled. fanny ardant was just brilliant, have always been a fan of hers. and the two young israeli actresses who played the girls were just wonderful. most enjoyable to watch the whole story unravle. brilliant!

THE SECRETS (HA-SODOT) is not only a deeply satisfying film as a story that involves the viewer at every level, but it is also a reminder that certain customs/prejudices of inequality between the sexes still exist. Written with poetic distinction by Hadar Gairon and Avi Nesher (who also sensitively directs the film), THE SECRETS brings us into a world few know and even fewer understand. And it informs us of cultural differences while telling a griping and fascinating story in a way few films are able to imitate.

Israel, despite the enlightened quality of life the Jews enjoy, remains a place where the division between men and women may have been erased when it comes to military obligations, but where the orthodox religion very decidedly separates the roles of male and female. Noemi (Ania Bukstein) wishes to 'postpone' her obligated marriage in order to study spiritual matters at the seminary in the ancient Kabalistic seat of Safed. She convinces her father to allow her to study for a year and then return to fulfill her feminine obligation to become a wife and mother. Once enrolled at the seminary Noemi becomes friends with another young 'rebel' girl Michelle (Michal Shtamier) and as their friendship grows they discover a French woman Anouk (Fanny Ardant), apparently living a life of poverty supported by the kindness of the seminary despite her history of imprisonment for murder. Noemi and Michelle study the secrets of the Kabal and become determined to administer the cleansing rituals for Anouk who is dying from cancer. Noemi and Michelle bond and become emotionally and physically committed to each other. Once they have administered the cleansing to Anouk the two girls are expelled from the seminary. They part ways with the hope that they will be together on the outside. Yet once back in the milieu of their society, old customs and rules alter their relationship: tradition conquers.

Director Avi Nesher unfolds this delicate story with restraint and taste and encourages the viewer to identify with each of the characters, no matter whether they are male or female, confined in traditional viewpoints or enlightened. Every actor in this large cast is excellent, but the work by Ardant, Bukstein and Shtamier is exemplary. This is a very fine film deserving of a wide audience, In Hebrew and French with subtitles. May 09