Disobedience
ロニートとエスティ 彼女たちの選択
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A photographer returns to Orthodox North London for her father's funeral and to the woman who married her cousin.
Ronit Krushka, a photographer in New York, learns that her father, the Rav, the revered rabbi of an Orthodox Jewish community in North London, has died. She flies home to a house of mourners who were not expecting her. Dovid Kuperman, her childhood friend and her father's chosen disciple, is startled to see her; the newspaper notice of the death said the Rav had no children. Then she learns that Dovid has married Esti, the third friend of their youth, and he invites Ronit to stay with them. At a Shabbat dinner at her uncle Moshe's house, the guests question her about changing her name and tell her she ought to marry. Her father has left everything to the synagogue.
Esti, who teaches at the local Jewish school, admits that she asked for Ronit to be told of the death because she wanted to see her again. Years ago the two girls were caught together, and Ronit left. In the Rav's empty house Esti kisses her. She married Dovid on the Rav's advice, she says, and has only ever been drawn to women. They kiss again in a park and are seen by a couple from the congregation, and the headmistress calls Esti in. Dovid is asked to take over the Rav's duties. When Ronit says she is leaving, the two women slip away to a hotel room in central London and sleep together.
At home Esti turns Dovid away and tells him the truth, and he walks out. She finds she is pregnant. The next day she disappears, and Ronit and Dovid search for her. When she comes back, she asks Dovid for her freedom, so that her child can one day choose whether to belong to the community. At the Rav's memorial, where he is expected to accept the leadership, Dovid tells the congregation that people have the right to choose, releases Esti from their marriage in front of everyone and declines the post. Outside, he embraces Esti and beckons Ronit to join them. The next day Esti runs after Ronit's taxi. They kiss and say they love each other, and Esti promises to let Ronit know where she goes. On the way to the airport, Ronit stops at her father's grave and photographs it.
Starring
Rachel Weiszas Ronit Krushka
A New York photographer who comes back for her father's funeral to the Orthodox community that shut her out.
Ronit Krushka’s story
Ronit is behind her camera in New York when she learns that her father, the Rav, has died. In London the mourners are cold, and the newspaper notice says the Rav had no children. At her uncle's Shabbat table she answers back when told to marry; then she learns that her father has left everything to the synagogue. When Esti kisses her in his empty house, she pulls away, then kisses her back. She says she is leaving, and first takes Esti to a hotel in central London. When Esti goes missing, she searches for her with Dovid, and after the memorial he beckons her into his embrace with Esti. As her taxi leaves, Esti runs after it. Ronit tells her she will be a brilliant mother, and they say they love each other. Then she photographs her father's grave.
Rachel McAdamsas Esti Kuperman
Ronit's first love, now a teacher married to Dovid, who has kept her desire for women hidden inside the community.
Esti Kuperman’s story
Esti meets Ronit again among the mourners; it was she who asked for Ronit to be told of the Rav's death, because she wanted to see her. In the Rav's empty house she kisses her, and says she married Dovid on the Rav's advice and has only ever been drawn to women. A kiss in the park is seen, and the headmistress calls her in. After slipping away with Ronit to a hotel in central London, she turns Dovid away and tells him the truth. Finding she is pregnant, she disappears for a day, then asks Dovid for her freedom, so that her child can one day choose. He gives it to her before the congregation. The next day she runs after Ronit's taxi, kisses her, says she loves her and promises to let her know where she goes.
Alessandro Nivolaas Dovid Kuperman
The Rav's devoted disciple and presumed successor, married to Esti and caught between his faith and his wife's freedom.
Dovid Kuperman’s story
Dovid meets Ronit at the door of the house of mourning and cannot hide his surprise. He takes her into the home he shares with Esti, and is asked to take over the Rav's duties. When Esti turns him away and tells him the truth about Ronit, he walks out. The next morning, with Esti missing, he calls Ronit and they search for her together. Esti comes back pregnant and asks him for her freedom, so that the child can one day choose. At the Rav's memorial, where he is expected to accept the leadership, he tells the congregation that people have the right to choose, tells Esti in front of everyone that she is free, and turns the post down. Outside he embraces her and beckons Ronit to join them.
Anton Lesseras Rav Krushka
Ronit's father, the community's revered rabbi, whose death brings her home after years of estrangement.
Allan Corduneras Moshe Hartog
Ronit's uncle, who hosts the Shabbat dinner and from whom she learns that her father left everything to the synagogue.
Why it matters
Disobedience takes place inside a closed world, the Orthodox Jewish community of North London, where a young woman may marry on her rabbi's advice and desire between women has nowhere to go. The film does not make faith the villain. Its prayers and rituals are filmed with care, and the man with most to lose, Dovid, is the one who says aloud that people have the right to choose; Alessandro Nivola won the British Independent Film Award for best supporting actor for the part. That is what makes the story difficult rather than simple. Esti's life was chosen for her by people who loved her, and her freedom costs a decent man his future and a congregation its certainty. The question it leaves is what a community owes the people it cannot hold, and what they still owe it.