Late Marriage
| Late Marriage | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Dover Kosashvili |
| Produced by | Marek Rozenbaum Edgard Tenenbaum |
| Written by | Dover Kosashvili |
| Starring |
Lior Ashkenazi Ronit Elkabetz Moni Moshonov Lili Kosashvili |
| Music by | Josef Bardanashvili |
| Cinematography | Daniel Schneor |
| Edited by | Yael Perlov |
|
Release date
|
17 May 2001 |
|
Running time
|
102 minutes |
| Country | Israel France |
| Language |
Judaeo-Georgian Hebrew |
Late Marriage (Hebrew: חתונה מאוחרת, Hatuna Meuheret) is a 2001 Israeli film directed by Dover Kosashvili. The film centers on Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi, in his breakthrough role), the 31-year-old child of tradition-minded Georgian Jewish immigrants who are anxiously trying to arrange a marriage for him. Unbeknownst to them, he is secretly dating a 34-year-old divorcée, Judith (Ronit Elkabetz). When his parents discover the relationship and violently intervene, Zaza must choose between his family traditions and his love.
Most of the main characters are Georgian-Israeli and the dialogue is partly in the Judaeo-Georgian language and partly in Hebrew.
The film was positively reviewed and was Israel's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards.
Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi) is a 31-year-old Georgian-Israeli PhD student at Tel Aviv University whose family is trying to arrange a marriage for him within the Georgian community. The film's beginning sees Zaza and his parents Yasha and Lili visiting the home of a possible match, who is still in high school. Zaza is clearly unenthusiastic and it is mentioned that he has seen dozens of prospective brides before this.
After dropping his parents off at their apartment building, Zaza drives to a pay phone and calls his girlfriend Judith (Ronit Elkabetz), a 34-year-old Moroccan-Israeli divorcée who he is dating without his parents' knowledge. After Judith's daughter Madona has gone to bed (Judith is unsuccessfully attempting to conceal the relationship from her), Zaza goes to her apartment and they have sex, in an explicit, naturalistic sequence.
Meanwhile, Zaza's parents find that they have left their housekey in Zaza's car and spend the night at the home of relatives Simon and Margalit. When Zaza doesn't answer repeated phone calls during the night, Yasha concludes that he is with Judith; apparently Yasha was aware of the relationship but Zaza had promised him that he would end it. Judith is unacceptable to Zaza's parents because she is divorced, has a child, and is older than Zaza. A number of Zaza's relatives stake out Judith's apartment building, planning to confront the couple and frighten Judith into leaving Zaza.
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