"DISOBEDIENCE" // TRIBECA 2018 REVIEW

BY MATEO MORENO

To be able to step out of your life, to step back into the past is something some of us wish for. Some of us fear it all together. But most of us know that we are wholly different people than we were way back when. If we were to step back and try to rediscover that person, what would we find? It’s especially intriguing if your past recalls a very different version of you, perhaps a much more ridged person, a person who had not yet opened to the world, or a person surrounded by religion. The latter example is what makes up the plot of DISOBEDIENCE, Sebastián Lelio’s new yearning through conflict drama.

The setting is an Orthodox Jewish community in north London and a community who gathers together after the death of a revered rabbi (Anton Lesser). His daughter Ronit (Rachel Weisz) was shunned by the community years ago after her attraction to a childhood friend Esti (Rachel McAdams), who was also part of the community. She’s now a successful photographer in New York who decides to return home for her father’s funeral. She’s coming back for the first time since she left this community, and the world of Orthodox Judaism, behind. The community itself does not necessarily welcome her back with open arms, though her two best friends do: Esti and Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), who is now married to Ronit’s old flame and is the soon to be successor of her father. Esti and Ronit’s passion is rekindled with intimate looks across the room, stolen kisses and it threatens to upheave the entire community, and the world that Esi and Dovid have built for themselves.

DISOBEDIENCE is quiet and moody and searing with heartache, longing, and passion. The film wisely never discredits the religion and never makes them a villain. Instead, we do side with Ronit, and we do want to agree against their narrow views of society, but we still feel the love and passion they have themselves for their religious world. It’s a fascinating feeling watching the film, and one that’s elevated by three amazing performances. Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams have true chemistry together, and their push and pull is powerful to experience. You want them to rediscover each other and you long for the moment they do. That is both a great thing to see, and one that is a slight complaint as well, being that as the audience, you’re never not on Ronit’s side. A stronger argument from the community’s point of view would have been interesting to add a bit more mystery to the proceedings. None the less, it all works, and is kinetic. In lesser hands, Dovid’s character would be a cartoonish buffoon, a man who didn’t realize who his wife truly loved until it was too late, but in the tight scripting and Alessandro Nivola’s incredibly rooted performance, you are also with him every step of the journey and understand his pain and confusion just as much as Ronit’s and Esti’s. Beautiful cinematography adds to the power of the story, and it’s one that I highly recommend.

VERDICT: MUST SEE

WRITTEN BY Sebastián Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz DIRECTED BY Sebastián Lelio STARRING Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola. Playing as part of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. https://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/disobedience-2018

TO BE OR NOT TO BE // A FILM REVIEW OF "A MOST WANTED MAN"

BY W DEREK JORDEN

Terrorist or not a terrorist? That’s the question of this movie. A young man ends up in Hamburg, Germany after what seems a terrible and quite literally torturous trip. Some sketchy faces show up around him and his equally sketchy behavior puts the authorities on high alert. The men behind the security cameras of Hamburg start to question the guy’s intentions and no simple answers are found. In comes Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the man who leads a team of investigators toward the truth. He is exhausted by the dark side of Hamburg, which is pretty damn dark in this movie, and by the adversity he faces from the top and from the Americans, but trudges one cigarette and stakeout after another.

Two beautiful ladies complicate things for him. As Gunther attempts to discover the identity and purpose of this man, Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), as a young law student with good intentions and fighting for the underdog, tries to keep it covered. And as Gunther hopes to unveil a major al Qaeda ring, Robin Wright works well in her role of Sullivan, an American diplomatic attaché that keeps him on his toes. In her we see much the same character as Claire Underwood, with more warmth and lightness, but the same amount of cutthroat. Another familiar face in this suspense flick is that of Willem Dafoe as Tommy Brue. Looking sharp in a tailored suit and a black Mercedes, Brue is the banker responsible for the large sums that could be legally bound to the terrorists. He wants to do the right thing, and it gets interesting.

The story is slow to develop which keeps the suspense at bay. A lot of time passes and not a lot of action. So slowly in fact that you’re left wondering how many packs of HB’s Phil smoked in the filming of this movie just between “Action!” and “Cut!” But it trudges on and you admit you actually like watching Phil smoke and a chance to see Rachel and Robin in action makes it even better. And after it’s all over you hope that Sullivan’s goal was achieved as it echoes in your ears: to make the world a safer place.

DEREK'S GRADE: B+

Written by Andrew Bovell and John le Carre Directed by Anton Corbijn Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright, Daniel Bruhl, Grigoriy Dobrygin

RATED R

FINAL THOUGHTS: This is strangely similar to what we saw on Homeland 5 years ago with a scarred and tortured potential terrorist who may be falling for a pretty blonde gal that’s on his case. The pretty blond gal is not the star though, and as the simple plot becomes an intellectual maze, what could have been a gripping movie is, well, still gripping because Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it so.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.