An Israeli woman (Ronit Elkabetz) seeking to finalize a divorce (gett) from her estranged husband finds herself effectively put on trial by her country’s religious marriage laws, in this powerhouse courtroom drama from sibling directors Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz. In Israel, there is neither civil marriage nor civil divorce; only Orthodox rabbis can legalize a union or its dissolution, which is only possible with the husband’s full consent. Trapped in a loveless marriage, Viviane Amsalem has been applying for a divorce for three years but her religiously devout husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian of CASINO ROYALE and PERSEPOLIS), continually refuses. His cold intransigence, Viviane’s determination to fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the rabbinical judges shape a procedure where tragedy vies with absurdity and everything is brought out into the open for judgment. Winner of the Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award for Best Picture and propelled by the craft of Ronit Elkabetz (LATE MARRIAGE, THE BAND’S VISIT), one of Israeli cinema’s most acclaimed actresses, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem is an uncompromising, heart-rending portrait of a woman’s struggle to overcome an unmoving patriarchy and live a life of her own design.
Critics Pick! “Gripping cinema from start to finish...assured, streamlined and bold”
Manohla Dargis
The New York Times
“Provocative...impossible to forget.”
Betsy Sharkey
Los Angeles Times
“Quivers with tension, impatience, comic heat, and, beneath it all, an irrepressible rage...Ronit Elkabetz, in her ability to compel and hold the eye, has few rivals”
Anthony Lane
The New Yorker
“Brilliant."
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
5 stars! “A feminist knockout.”
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out NY
3 ½ stars! “Riveting.”
Farran Smith Nehme
NY Post
“Rarely does a film integrate a social and political message within a forceful drama as masterfully as Gett.”
Christopher Silvester
Newsweek
“Expertly written, brilliantly acted...The beautifully modulated script, ripe with moments of liberating humor, builds to a crescendo of indignation, allowing Elkabetz several cathartic outbursts, but they’re no more riveting than the actress’ silences.”
Jay Weissberg
Variety
“Densely rich drama, told with stringent austerity but also humor and judicious empathy...an altogether strange but astonishing work of craftsmanship.”
Leslie Felperin
The Hollywood Reporter
“A very suspenseful courtroom drama. The performances are quite perfect.”
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
“Mesmerizing.”
Peter Sobczynski
RogerEbert.com
"Fascinating."
Dan Fainaru
Screen Daily
Academy Awards 2015 - Official Foreign Language Submission
Golden Globe Awards 2015 - Best Foreign Language Film Nominee
Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2014 - Directors' Fortnight Feature Competition
Winner! Israeli Film Academy Ophir Award - Best Picture
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Film
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Audience Favorite Award
Winner! Jerusalem Film Festival 2014 - Best Actor, Menashe Noy
Winner! Hamptons International Film Festival 2014 - Golden Starfish Award for Best Narrative Feature
Winner! Chicago International Film Festival 2014 - Silver Hugo for Best Screenplay
