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Fill the Void aka "Lemale et ha'halal" [Blu-ray]
(Rama Burshtein, 2012)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Norma Productions Video: Artificial Eye
Disc: Region: 'B' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:30:37.041 Disc Size: 28,447,393,947 bytes Feature Size: 23,577,987,072 bytess Video Bitrate: 27.58 Mbps Chapters: 12 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: April 14th, 2014
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p / 24 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio Hebrew 1798 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1798 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) LPCM Audio Hebrew 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles: English (SDH), none
Extras: • Audio commentary with director Rama Burshstein and Hadas Yuron• Q + A with Rama Burshstein and Hadas Yuron (17:02) • Theatrical Trailer (1:41) Bitrate:
Description: A devout 18-year-old Israeli is pressured to marry the husband of her late sister. Declaring her independence is not an option in Tel Aviv's ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, where religious law, tradition and the rabbi's word are absolute.
The Film: A family crisis puts a young woman in a difficult position in this drama from Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein. Esther (Renana Raz) is the daughter of an Orthodox Rabbi who follows her father's faith, and she and her husband Yochay (Yiftach Klein) are happy to soon be welcoming their first child into the world. Joy turns to sorrow when Esther dies in childbirth; Yochay is devastated, and despite their own heartache, her mother Rivka (Irit Sheleg) and younger sister Shira (Hadas Yaron) step forward to help the widower look after his newborn son. Esther's father Rabbi Aharon (Chaim Sharir) counsels Yochay that it would be best for him and his young son if he remarried as soon as he feels capable, but finding a fit mother is no simple task. Rivka comes up with what she feels is a perfect solution -- an arranged marriage between Yochay and Shira, who has already grown fond of the baby. Yochay isn't sure he's comfortable with wedding his sister-in-law, and Shira feels no better about it, preferring to save herself for a virgin like herself, but the demands of her family may weigh more strongly than her own desires. Lemale et ha'chalal (aka Fill the Void) received its American premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
The film offers a fascinating glimpse into an unfamiliar culture that's
not often explored on screen. Consequently, it comes as something of a
surprise to find that the film does not take a position against arranged
marriage, instead presenting it unchallenged, as a positive thing
(although the brilliant final shot introduces a thought-provoking note
of ambiguity). Accordingly, in the press notes for the film, Burshtein
cites Jane Austen as a major influence and it's easy to see the
similarities between the two worlds.
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Fill the Void gets an impressive transfer to Blu-ray from Artificial Eye. Asaf Sudry's cinematography and the style moving between out of focus and desaturated visuals seems meticulously arrived at. It sates on Wikipedia that 'While a "documentary feel" was retained throughout most the film's duration, the style was switched for the wedding scene to create a euphoric atmosphere similar to those used in productions by Terrence Malick and David Lynch.' It sneaks into dual-layered territory and has a supportive bitrate for the 1.5 hour feature. The 1080P supports the rich contrast exhibiting healthy black levels and some minor depth in the 2.35:1 frame. It's pristinely clean showcasing some hi-def detail and there are really no flaws with the rendering. I loved the unique style. This Blu-ray probably looks like exactly the theatrical version of the film Fill the Void. I thoroughly enjoyed the adept video rendering of the film.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Audio is offered in the option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track at 1798 kbps or a simpler stereo linear PCM 2.0 channel at 1536 kbps both in original Hebrew. The film doesn't have much separations and both lossless tracks seem more than capable at dishing out the depth - notably in Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim and the melodic and traditional score by Yitzhak Azulay which sounds quite wonderful. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.
Extras : Extras include an audio commentary with director Rama Burshstein and Hadas Yuron (Shira in the film). It is quite good with plenty to discuss and it seems appropriate to add the, less formal, 17-minute Q + A with with both of them to cover further details and respond to queries. There is also a theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze April 2nd, 2014
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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