Review of Late Marriage (2001) by Private U — 02 Nov 2007

Zaza, the 31-year-old son of Georgian immigrants in Israel is a disgrace to his family for not yet being married. His parents have repeatedly tried to set him up with other girls, but he shrugs all of them off because he's in love with Judith, a 34-year-old divorcee with a daughter. The film essentially consists of only a small handful of long, deeply developed scenes with two major centerpieces. The first is an extended sex scene between Zaza and Judith, which is very different from any sex scene I've ever seen before. The sex isn't perfect or even particularly arousing, and absolutely nothing about the scene is in any way idealized -- basically, no effort is spent to make it enjoyable for the viewer. That's not the point. Instead, it's all about conveying the intimacy of the relationship. Zaza and Judith are entirely comfortable with each other's bodies and each of them appears to have intimate knowledge of exactly what'll excite the other. Instead of looking like a couple of actors performing a sex scene, they look like a couple having sex. (At least, it looks realistic to me; I don't actually have a frame of reference to draw on, except to say that it doesn't look at all like a typical sex scene.) This is an adult relationship being rightfully treated as such, and the couple's intimacy is so thoroughly embedded in the viewer's mind that the two of them seem like inseparable entities.

The other major centerpiece is a very different scene in which several members of Zaza's family follow him up to Judith's apartment and confront them together. His parents are unimaginably cruel and condescending to both of them, and it's by far one of the most emphatically painful scenes I can ever recall seeing. You just sit back helpless while characters who previously just seemed like good, exasperated people, quaint but harmless, regress into an almost medieval sort of mob-like mercilessness, and in front of Judith's daughter, no less. But it's also far, far more complex a scene than a simple modern heroes vs. ancient villains scenario, and when it's through Zaza and Judith also emerge with the viewer's sympathies in question.

The embarrassing description on the DVD's back cover tries to sell Late Marriage as a wacky farce "in the tradition of My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and also includes a blurb from one critic citing "probably the most realistic sex scene ever filmed," which together seem like odd selling points. New Yorker apparently decided the target audience was people who thought Greek Wedding was okay except for the lack of graphic sex. In any case, don't be deceived: Late Marriage is nothing like the harmless, annoying little extended sitcom it was sold to cash in on. It's much more dramatic, much more realistic, and much, much better. And where the other film viewed potentially repressive cultural tradition as a quaint little absurdity wrapped up by a big, rosy ending, Late Marriage is a bold, unwavering depiction of the damage it can cause generation after generation. It does not shy away from real life, no matter how much it hurts. The film ends exactly how you know it must end, which is exactly how you want it not to end.