Fill the Void: New York Film Festival 2012
New York Film Festival 2012: Fill the Void
Set in the community of Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Haredim, Rama Burshtein’s absorbing domestic drama somehow finds its way to a uniquely modern conundrum, as the tastes of a fickle teenage girl threaten to upend the concerted efforts of parents and rabbis. After her older sister dies in childbirth, Shira (the excellent Hadas Yaron) finds herself the uneasy subject of much marital matchmaking, a potential addition to the young, broken family. Even within this off-putting patriarchal framework, director Burshtein stays close to her women via anxiety-laced close-ups and a shallow focus that surrounds them in soft pools of thought. Shira isn’t exactly a revolutionary; the movie makes her try something much harder, which is to find her way to acquiescence and peace.—Joshua Rothkopf
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