63
It moves slowly, but you suspect that is the way of life in Mea Shearim, the closed quarters of a group that triggered Gitai's respect and our curiosity.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
75
San Francisco Chronicle by Bob Graham
Slowly unfolding but liberating film, which is also a rare look inside a circumscribed community.
70
This unusually classical story from experimental Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai flows along, suffused in a quiet beauty flecked with sober foreboding.
60
Gitai, a veteran documentary director, refuses to find an easy resolution to the story, and that will frustrate as many people as it pleases.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Gitai has created a film that is as beautiful as it is all but unbearable to watch.
60
Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector
It's hard to tell whether these characters are meant to seem as staunchly symbolic as they do when they deliver some of the back-story-heavy dialogue.
78
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
Raises fascinating question within a compelling narrative framework, and is also intriguing for the glimpse it provides into the inner workings of Orthodox Judaism.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker
An alternately angry and sad portrait, passionate in its presentation and moving in its portrayal of individuals who sacrifice their love for the tenets of their religion.
67
Portland Oregonian by Shawn Levy
If it happens to lose you as you wander through this strange land, at least it does so to the accompaniment of captivating visuals and music.
70
It is unusually but effectively organized as an almost unbroken chain of intimacies between the small and large players in this story.