Zev Imagine if I were to make a movie about women, and in this movie, the women all secretly meet and plan how to make their guys' lives miserable, and then have a lesbian fling to make themselves feel better. And I film this as a serious drama with real people and situations. Because I take it seriously, I add scattered technical details that I picked up from various sources about women and their menstrual cycles throughout the movie to prove that I know what I am talking about.All I would be doing, obviously, is showing my immaturity, ignorance, misogyny, and an approach to tackling a subject that is too silly to even be called a straw-man approach. The above hypothetical movie would be hilariously pathetic.And that's what this movie experience was like for me. I lived for a while in these orthodox religious circles so I know what I am talking about. But you don't need experience to realize that this movie is completely ridiculous. After the first ten minutes of disgust, I found myself laughing for the next 90 minutes at the movie and at Amos Gitai.To list the inaccuracies in this movie would take pages, but, believe it or not, that is not the primary problem with this movie. The problem with this movie is that it is a hateful movie for secular people to fuel more hatred and to feel superior to the orthodox with easy and very crudely drawn targets.Yes there are religious wife-beaters and clueless insensitive men and other various social problems in the orthodox religious world. Yes, this topic could theoretically be handled in a good movie by the right person. But this is definitely not that movie. As described above, this movie is the equivalent of a misogynist making a movie about women, basing it on the fact that there are real bitches out there that did horrible things to men. And then calling the movie 'Female' ('Kadosh' means 'holy' - obviously a crude and very cheap provocation).As an example of one of the many problems with this movie, Abecassis is supposed to be an insider brought up in a religious family, but she constantly acts as an outsider who has not even minimal regard for anything religious. She is obviously Gitai's mouthpiece, providing the intended secular audience a persona they can project themselves onto.As another example, the sex scene was so hilariously over the top I rewound it a couple of times and still couldn't stop laughing. Here is an ultimately sensitive topic of marital rape, and yet I couldn't stop laughing, because the guy was jumping up and down on her as if he were on a trampoline. Obviously Gitai doesn't know about the training orthodox men go through before a marriage and the years of study in books that always emphasize gentleness and sensitivity. If the man were depicted as a boorish lout whose insensitivity led to rape, then that would be one thing. But this violence came out of nowhere like he were a jack-in-the-box bouncing rapist, because, as we all know, all religious men are violent rapists right?If you think all religious orthodox Jews are backwards, clueless fanatics and misogynists that don't even go to doctors (does Gitai think they are Amish?), then this movie will be right up your alley. If, on the other hand, you have some intelligence, low bias, and a certain level of maturity, this movie will make you laugh.

Jeff D I have many ultra-Ortodox cousins in Jerusalem. As much as I love them, I will be forever uncomfortable with the status of women in the community. One of my cousins, who was in a way the younger sister I never had, is now stuck in what I view as a terrible marriage that would never last in most Western societies -- rightfully so, I think. Yet, there, it is accepted and she must live with it. (Just one example of many...)Having said that, this movie does not portray this world with any truth, actual or figurative. This is not a story as it might have happened. Sad in a way, as the truth could have been used to make some aspects of the point Amos Gitai seems to wish to make. He also neglects the warm, loving and spiritually nurturing environment that the haredi world can be.So, if you watch this cardboard movie, please remember it has nothing to do with the texture of reality.

noralee My mother told me not to go to see "Kadosh" -- but who ever listens to one's mother? I was so turned off by it while I was watching I thought I must have lost my feminist credentials on the way into the theater, so I checked with card-carrying feminists the next day. No, they also thought it was much more an anti-Orthodox screed than a pro-feminist statement, painting the Orthodox as equal to the Taliban.While this Israeli movie is careful to show that the sect the story is about is the ultimate ultra-Orthodox Messianists, it is so nasty as to be unbelievable (plus that the non-fanatic Orthodox rock-'n'-roller(!) one of the sisters is in love with is incredibly sexy--even in Israel that must be fantasy).The theater was quite crowded, so there's a pent-up curiosity to see Israeli movies; too bad this vicious movie is the one getting wide distribution. This was almost enough to drive me back to insipid Hollywood romantic movies. (originally written 4/29/2000)

Exiled_Archangel It's so sad that some people still live according to religion, or what they know as religion, in the 21st century. We always see and hear about the extremism in Islam and Christianity, but this film manifests the fact that extremism in Judaism is not so innocent either. Being a big fan of Israel in international arena, I was astonished to see how mediocre some people can be even in my favourite country. The religious extremism virtually wrecks the lives of two women in this film, and nobody's quite happy about that except for the rabbi, nor does anyone benefit from the women's dreadful situation. There comes the question: Those of you stuck with religion dedicate their lives to doing favours to God, but does your almighty God really need your favours at innocent people's expense? Of course the women in question apparently tend to rely on the ultra-orthodox society and don't make a sufficient effort to break away. But all this is still very very sad and disturbing. And there's the segregation of "real God's people" and "the others". Israel is not the only place with that phenomenon for sure, but it's a country with a good amount of both types so it's more obvious there. One group regards the others as profanes and those "profanes" think the others are unnecessary losers who have no lives. Unfortunately people tend to remember such sad facts only when films like this are made. So it's a good idea to watch this film and grab some culture.As for the film itself, I think the acting is brilliant, and the plot is outstanding. Typical Amos Gitai style, emphasizing some scenes and leaving them on screen for way longer than 99.9% of the viewers would find necessary. Most young people and superficial people regardless of age would find this film to be fairly boring. But I think it's right next door to being a masterpiece. If you enjoy films dealing with social issues in different cultures, and if you prefer enabling yourself to empathize with different peoples and cultures to seeing naked bodies, then do not miss this film. 9/10 from me.