Kadosh

Two sisters in an Orthodox Jewish community are repressed and tyrannized by their patriarchal society—one is forced into a loveless marriage with a sadistic, bellowing zealot while the other is ostracized for failing to produce a child (even though it’s probably her husband who is “barren”). In the script by Eliette Abecassis, Jacky Cukier and director Amos Gitai, the men are either arrogant pigs or spineless weaklings; the women are noble martyrs, and none of them have much humanity or dimension. It’s like a typical atheist’s view of religion—they’re all either knaves or fools. Worse, Gitai directs with such idiotic solemnity—redundant dialogue dragged out endlessly by bloated pauses—that any spirit the characters might have had is crushed out before it has a chance to show itself.