Disobedience - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Disobedience

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Disobedience is the latest film from new director Sebastian Lelio (Fantastic Women), and another attempt at creating an introspective film that peels back the layers of religion, sexuality and our perceptions (or misconceptions) of the flawed nature of human kind. Taken from the 2006 novel of the same name by Naomi Alderman, Disobedience is a fascinating watch, even coming from a highly religiously conservative background as myself. While I was expecting to loathe the movie based upon the trailer (mainly due to the fear of trying to lambast the viewer with heavy handed preaching out persecution of the LGBT community), but it ended up being a mesmerizing watch, as Lelio molds his film to neither lionize, nor demonize, each of the players in this uncomfortable love triangle. He sometimes is a bit too blunt and unwieldy for his own good, but Lelio manages to eek out some incredible performances and take a fairly balanced look at what rebellion, lying to yourself (and others), as well as orthodox creed without focus can do to people.

A prominent Jewish Rabbi in London keels over on the pulpit, requiring a massive funeral for the revered Rav. This draws back the shunned daughter of said Rav, one Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz) who was excommunicated from the Hassidic community and now makes her way as a photographer in New York. Upon arriving, Ronit is uncomfortably reunited with her family and greeted by her father’s successor, Rav Dovid (Alessandro Nivola). It’s not long before we find out WHY Ronit was shunned so many years ago. It appears that she had a same sex attraction to a young woman years ago, and instead of bringing public shame the Rabbi’s house, she was sent away to New York so that no one would ever know.

As fate would have it. This young lover is a girl named Esti (Rachel McAdams), and just so happens to now be married to Dovid himself for quite some time. As the young women spend some time together, old flames are rekindled, and the once evenly balanced rock that their lives were built upon will come crumbling down in due order.

Disobedience does not extend it’s “will” upon the viewer, nor does it demand that the viewer accept one side or the other in this unfortunate love triangle. Sebastian Lelio has made careful pains to never pull the audience in one direction or another, but rather shows the three main characters as humans, and their plight as consequences of the actions they take. That’s not to say that Esti, Ronit and Dovid are seen as inconsequential or coldly unnecessary. Rather it allows us to look at each person’s wants, desires, rebellions, and creeds, and lets us watch how their actions influence their lot in life and what comes in the future. It’s not always organically woven, but the simple tale of love, devotion, rebellion, and disobedience is painfully realistic enough to be enthralling.

The deliberate pacing and methodical building up of interpersonal relationships is not always beneficial to the story, but it is really is one of the highlights of the film as we see the characters grow and flex in their societal roles. Ronit is blunt, aggressive, and frankly, angry for being shunned so many years ago. She lives in confusion and upheaval, living with the remnants of her upbringing, but also the desires of her flesh pulling her in two completely opposite directions. The coming back to her family home rekindles those old desires she once had as a child, and her acts of defiance and rebellion are only amplified by the anger she feels towards the heavily traditional Jewish community. Rachel Weisz gives an absolutely mesmerizing performance as Ronit, playing her as both a sympathetic and cruel character. Her complexities and inner demons molding the rebellious woman as she fights against the system that she feels treated her unfairly.

Esti is the weakest of the three, as her psyche and carefully constructed house of (fake) cards is blown on by the big bad wolf, making her barely contained normalcy in danger of being knocked down with one breath. McAdams isn’t always able to play Esti with the amount of vulnerability and sensitivity needed (she comes across as a bit bland and out of it sometimes), but she does a good enough job to keep the character interesting. HOWEVER, Allesandro Nivola simply steals the movie in every scene that he’s in. His portrayal as the heavily orthodox Rav is one of the best in the entire movie. He’s both dense and incredibly intelligent, and his absolute devotion to his belief system makes him one of the more honorable and sympathetic characters in the movie. While some of the orthodox Jewish community can come across as abrasive and overly “mean” (for lack of a better word), he is approachable and kind in all his actions. Even though he is blind to what is going on right in front of him (for part of the time at least), his intelligence and sharpness of wit allow him to keep his core being about him and act as the emotional foil for Ronit. Instead of being angry, rebellious, and conniving, he is cool, level headed, and completely devoted to his faith down to the last fiber of his being.




Rating:

Rated R for some sexuality




Video:

Disobedience is a complex and appealing film visually, but also one that was stylized to be a bit desaturated and bleak in nature. Veteran cinematographer Danny Cohen has very specifically (according to an interview I watched before the film) created a soft and somber palette, with light brown overtones and dark grays in the background, punctuated by little splashes of bright primary colors (clothes, a flash of lipstick), but even though the heavy grading for the digitally shot film may keep it from being truly stunning, it is very representative of the source and the disc itself is just about artifact free. There’s a little mild banding in a few shots and some washed out black levels in a couple of dinner scenes, but overall the film’s visual style is nuanced and expressive of great amounts of detail on 1080p. Colors are drab and moody, saturation is moderately impressive with those little splashes of color, and the intentionally soft film shows everything to the best of it’s ability without any digital tinkering. Simply put, a well crafted Blu-ray that follows the artistic intent of the film itself.





Audio:

Disobedience is a simple 5.1 track, but one a simple track that is done well. There’s some minor splashes of music that liven up the sound stage, as well as ambiance from the rear speakers, but this is really a track that thrives in the front of the room. And more appropriately, in the front center channel. The film is heavily steeped with dialog heavy scenes, and that dialog heavy nature means that this 5.1 track is not as wildly active as other genre films. Voices are still crisp and clean, and the mild ambiance of a rambunctiously argumentative dinner, or the bustle of a school classroom brings some excitement and spaciousness to the track. The minor musical interludes add a sense of depth and LFE presence to the track, which is otherwise a bastion of heavy dialog and a little bit of front heavy panning effects. While Disobedience is not an action track, it does everything asked of it cleanly and clearly, without distortion or fault of encode.







Extras:

• Nothing

Final Score: ​

I was rather interested how I would react tot the film upon watching the initial trailer before review. I swing from a rather conservative religious background so I was wondering how heavy and celebratory of the film’s “disobedience” (pun intended) the movie was going to be in reality. Interestingly enough, Disobedience doesn’t beat you over the head. It IS a blunt movie, but it takes all sides of the debate and doesn’t lionize or demonize any one segment of the conflict. Ronit is both intelligently conflicted, while also repugnant in her actions. Esti is confused and in a rock and a hard place situation, while Dovid is as honorable and true to himself as he is a bit dense (he brings forth one of the single best performances of the movie). Whether a person agrees or disagrees with the actions of the main players, it’s fascinating to watch it play out on screen and see how a simple act of rebellion and disobedience can wreck all of what tradition and orthodoxy (both religious and familial) have built up over painstaking times. It IS a bit of a flawed movie, but one that seems to show more depth after repeat viewings. Recommended to check out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams, Alessandro Nivola
Directed by: Sebastian Lelio
Written by: Sebastian Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Naomi Alderman (Novel)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 115 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: July 17th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Decent Watch

 

[Todd Anderson]

That Rotten Tomatoes badge is rather amusing on the cover art.

 

[tripplej]

Yeah, I wonder what it means? I am assuming, Fresh means good?

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, yeah "fresh" and "rotten" is how they rate it on their "tomatoemeter". It's kinda goofy when they start putting it on covers though

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the clarification..

 

[Todd Anderson]

lol, yeah "fresh" and "rotten" is how they rate it on their "tomatoemeter". It's kinda goofy when they start putting it on covers though

I was just being smart... with the cover art and the "Certified Fresh" stamp.

Kind of amusing!