Disobedience

I went to Disobedience because I enjoyed the book, which isn't always a good idea but worked out all right on this occasion. It probably helps that it's quite a few years since I read the book, so I wasn't hung up on the details.

Ronit  (played by Rachel Weisz) is  the central character. She is a rabbi's daughter and grew up in London in an orthodoxe Jewish community but now lives a secular life in New York City working as a photographer. Having heard the news of her father's death, she heads back to London, where she finds out that Dovit (who was her father's spiritual protege) and Esti (her best friend with whom she had a clandestine lesbian relationship when they were teenagers) are now married to each other which is a big surprise. The other big surprise waiting is that her father has left his house to the local synagogue and not to her.

Despite Esti being married, she and Ronit's feelings for each other haven't diminished with time. So the story is about what effect that has on each of their adult lives and how Ronit comes to terms with the death of a man she loved, but from whom she was estranged. It's a very tense movie and the tension comes from the impossibility of having or acknowledging a lesbian relationship in such a religious community. Disobedience is a fairly satisfying watch despite everything in it (including the weather) being gray or brown.

Anne's rating 3/5.