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Why won't Viviane leave her husband (Spoilers)?

posted 12 years ago by filmfancy
2 replies | jump to latest

First let me say that I thought Ronit Elkabetz and Simon Abkarian were excellent. Each conveyed the emotions of their characters perfectly.

*SPOILER WARNING*

The thing that bothered me was Elkabetz's character, Viviane, claiming that she hated her life with her husband, that she couldn't take it anymore, and yet when she's presented with the opportunity to be with someone who truly loves her and who she loves (the scenes with these two were beautifully done), she says she can't leave her husband. Her lover, Albert, even said he would accept her children when she said she couldn't leave without them. What more did she want?

We're told the film is set in 1969 Haifa; was there really a taboo against divorce then? Or was Viviane only concerned with her family's disapproval? This part of the story didn't make any sense considering how ill Viviane was getting by constantly fighting with her husband. The children were suffering also. It was painful to watch the scenes with the parents fighting in front of the kids; you could see the anguish on their faces.

Either the film wasn't written very well or the viewer would need to know more about Israeli culture and religion to understand Viviane's refusal to finally leave her husband and start a new life.

"And all the pieces matter" (The Wire)

[–] kolnoaMograbi 10 years ago

It took place in 1979, not '69. You could tell because of the Voice of Peace playing on the radio, playing the recording of Anwar Sadat saying, "The October War should be the last war..." referring to the Yom Kippur War, which took place in 1973.

Regardless, patriarchy was alive and well in the North African immigrant community in Israel even up through the 1990s. Also, since Eliyahu seems to have found religion, Viviane probably knows that he wouldn't give her a divorce easily. And she faced huge pressure from her brothers-in-law, and likely subtle pressure from her mother-in-law, as well as her neighbor, Dona, who is probably meant to represent the rest of the community.

When you think of garbage, think of Hakim!

[–] 10 years ago

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