An Insider’s View of Religious Tradition in ‘Fill the Void’

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Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The absolution of marriage is difficult enough without having the specter of the “arranged” situation within a religious tradition. A new Israeli film, “Fill the Void,” explores the issues and answers within these arrangements, as the modern world pushes against Orthodox Hasidic Judaism.

This is fascinating stuff, especially as an insider’s view of the circumstance. We see the highly patriarchal arm of the Jewish faith, the orthodox rabbis who give tithe to their male followers and make decisions for girls either still in or barely outside their teens. And as in any relationship landscape, there is a competitive nature about the pairings, with long-time unmatched women destined for spinsterhood (in this film, the old fashioned term applies) and ostracism from the tribe. This wonderfully sensitive drama is unerringly written and directed by Rama Burshtein, with an emphasis on balanced motivations. But no matter how it’s sliced, it’s less of a good deal for a modern women.

Shira (Hadas Yaron) is an 18 year old girl, the youngest daughter of her devout Hasidic family. Her sister Esther (Renana Raz) is nine months pregnant with her first shcild, and her husband Yochay (Yiftach Klein) is in a state of bliss. As the family celebrates Purim, an unexpected circumstance occurs – Esther dies in a premature labor, but the baby survives.

Hadas Yaron as Shira in ‘Fill the Void’ Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Yochay is now a widower in his early thirties, with a young son to take care of – he must find a new wife. An offer for a match from Belgium comes through, but Rivka (Irit Sheleg) – the bereaved mother of Esther and Shira – doesn’t want her only grandbaby to move away. She looks to her youngest daughter Shira as a potential match, and the machinations are put into place to “fill the void.”

One of the most enduring wonders of the movies is their ability to create a snapshot of a world that had previously been unreachable. The ancient rituals and traditions of the Hassidic Jew is righteously on display in the film, with the somber, bearded and black hatted men and their concession of all decisions to the rabbi. Their songs and chants are captivating, calling through ancient texts and generations. They live to maintain the internalization of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspect of the faith. This glimpse of that passion through the film is eye opening and almost voyeuristic.

The film centers on the women in the story, as the men are shown to be mostly clueless to their feelings. This is readily accepted, as the women manipulate the strings in the background, as starkly realized through mother Rivka. Shira is an innocent, but knows her law – both the parents and potential couples must approve the matchmaking – and she takes a stand regarding who will be her lifelong mate. Yochay poses a dilemma, because Shiva is not only leery of mating with her sister’s widower, but she doesn’t have any attraction to him.

The performances are reverent and intuitive. The Israeli film industry has had a flowering in the last five years, and the films are beautiful expressions of both tribal conditions and the “wolf at the door” that Israel lives with every day. “Fill the Void” joins these all-stars, and boasts a cast that really understands their director’s narrative, and treats the motivations with simple piety and prodigious follow through.

Yochay (Yiftach Klein) with Shira in ‘Fill the Void’ Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

A distinctive character is Aunt Hanna (Raza Israeli), who is armless through a birth defect. She has never married, but wears the head dress of a matron after a rabbi gave her the advice to do so. She is vehemently against Shira’s coupling with Yochay, and causes a rift with her sister Rivka that underscores both the aunt’s independence and need to overcome her handicap. There is a scene in which Rivka refuses her water, but eventually capitulates. This is highly symbolic of a woman’s fate within the religious sect. There may be refusal, but eventually there is capitulation.

The notion of marriage is perhaps more honest in a film like this, than the modern “romantic” pairings that occur through serendipity. It’s a business and family arrangement, with clear roles and definitions. It is much healthier when those lines are blurred and a woman is free to choose her own mate, but that doesn’t necessarily bode well for a long-lasting nuptial, if that is the ultimate goal.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com