Over the course of four well-paced hourlong installments, “Unorthodox” flits between Esty’s unsteady experiences in this brave new world and the attempts by Yanky and his boorish cousin Moishe (Jeff Willbusch) to track her down, with ample flashbacks to the unhappy marriage that catalyzed her decision.
As Esty arrives in Berlin, she begins to explore the uncertain prospects of a new secular life, pursuing an audition at the Berlin Music Conservatory while contemplating whether to apprise her mother - another escapee - of her arrival. As fictionalized Feldman stand-in Esty, Haas encapsulates an intimate saga defined by the limbo of feeling trapped between two worlds: As the story begins, she slips away from her community in the midst of Sabbath ceremonies, unbeknownst her new husband Yanky (Amit Rahav), a feeble young Hasid unaware that his wife bears their child. ‘Yellowjackets’ Episode 6 Enforces a Grueling Reality CheckĪnchored by a remarkable turn from Israeli actress Shira Haas, “Unorthodox” oscillates between dour coming-of-age drama and taut survival story. However, director Maria Schrader and creator Anna Winger (“Deutchland 83”) have transformed this familiar template into a riveting thriller, rich with the struggles of a young woman seeking her individuality, and the unnerving efforts of men convinced they can stop her.
On one level, “Unorthodox” works within the same expanded universe of religious rebellion explored in recent cinema, from the lesbian drama “Disobedience” to the bittersweet Williamsburg-set father-son drama “Menashe” - which, like “Unorthodox,” largely unfolds in Yiddish. However, the four-part limited series adapted from Feldman’s book, also called “Unorthodox,” gives this dilemma a fresh spin. While the particular circumstances surrounding Feldman’s flight hold unique power, Feldman’s story belongs to an emerging tradition of tales surrounding the oppressive nature of ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, and the people who struggle with the impulse to move on. Raised in the Hasidic Satmar sect of Williamsburg, Feldman escaped an arranged marriage at the age of 19, while pregnant with her first child, and resettled in Germany. Deborah Feldman’s 2012 memoir “ Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots” charts a familiar path of resistance.
0 kommentar(er)
