Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

ninyabruja This movie made me furious. Tammy is verbally abused in front of her mother (I don't think the boys would have behaved this way if she had been with her father)at the beginning of the movie--even though she dresses modestly-- and then later raped off-camera. Rafi, the boy who likes her does nothing to stop it--the rapist tells him not to be a snitch (the implication being that it is more important for Rafi to look good to his friends than to protect someone he cares for). Tammy's mother tells her that she can talk to a professional, but she chooses to remain silent and not report the rape to the police. The rapist is not punished.I didn't want to go to Israel by myself before I saw this movie, but I'm even less inclined now. The middle eastern attitude towards women is for $#!t regardless of faith (Armenians are mostly Christian).

Marian Paroo I think people either love or hate this movie, and their politics will have an influence, of course.The movie shows the less than pretty side of the settler movement and the national religious wing -- the sexism, the hostility toward anyone that doesn't fit the exact mold (even if they support the movement politically), the racism.The heroine who thinks that going off to a settlement in the occupied territories is - surprise, surprise! - shocked to discover that as a woman without a man, getting accepted will be an uphill struggle (they tell her straight out they need men for not only defense, but prayer quorums, as women don't count there). The near rape of the younger daughter is by nationalistic religious boys who are on the outskirts of their own movement because of their dark skin (the very fundamentalist Shas movement is the result of this discrimination within the religious community, but that's another story).Of course the religious/settlement people will hate this movie. The people responsible for sending it out of the country will probably be called traitors (and I wouldn't be surprised if there are death threats) for showing the warty side of the settlers among themselves, never mind towards the Palestinians.Gaon is sure a hoot in his role -- by the way, in real life he is rather center left.

eyal philippsborn The first question that popped in my head once the ending credits appeared, was- should I be offended?This movie, after all, deals with religious-Zionists and I am a movie-buff secular so maybe the depiction of this much maligned (for no justifiable reason, in my humble opinion) sector was credible and not a slanderous attack. I believe I have reached a conclusion.Today, when a new rift in Israel is emerging over the implementation of the disengagement program lead by prime minister, Ariel Sharon, it's easy to relate to the 1981 struggle against the evacuation of the Sinai peninsula after the signing of the historical peace accord with Egypt.1981 found Tammy Gerlik (Hani Furstenberg in a wonderful performance) in a Jerusalemite neighborhood with her older sister and widowed mom who decides to move to a new settlement in the occupied territories with her circle of the religious, patriotic and unified but also hypocrite and mistrusting circle of friends. It also finds Tammy in her teenage years when romantic feelings and self-defining questioning begin to emerge. Her generally cheerful personality suffers a major setback when Tammy is nearly raped by a violent teenager with the cheering of his dubious "buddies". With a mother too self-absorbed, and "friends" that tag her as a promiscuous girl, she finds a soul mate in her rebellious sister that is alienated to her mother for abolishing her chance of privacy in a very boisterously funny scene that involves a hammer (can't elaborate, sorry).In the meantime, the mother, Rachel (Micaela Eshet, in a reasonably good but not much more, performance), is a 42 year old strong woman who had married too early and went through life without falling in love. While shunning as delicately as possible the courting of a highly renowned and severely boring, cantor, she forms a friendship with, Yossi, a bachelor bus driver/ultimate loser who has lost hope of ever conjugating (let alone, wed) an actual woman.With Yossi as a refuge from the pretense of a strong willed woman, Rachel realizes the true nature of her friends, the frailty of their loyalty and worst of all, their obsession of sweeping unflattering phenomena under the carpet, even at the grave price of perpetuating it for posterity. The movie is well acted, credibly written and even manages to give the audience the atmosphere of the early 80's when Israelis had one TV channel to watch, one telephone company and a strong sense of patriotism that is disparaged and demonetized by too many these days.Which brings me to my question in the beginning of this review, should I, the secular guy (who identifies with Yossi the bus driver more than he wishes), should be offended when the religious society is presented in a very critical manner.The answer to that question is simple: when you are offended on behalf of a grown up group for being disparaged, you might be disparaging it yourself by deciding for them how they should feel.I feel, personally, that the director, Yosef Cedar (who grew up in a religious background but is pretty estranged to it, according to his own testimony) decided to "indict" his origins. As a result, the viewer is deprived from an unbiased impression of one of the most enigmatic, controversial and riveting sector in contemporary Israeli society.The movie won as best film in the Israeli Oscar competition and its victory was outshone by the fact that the movie "sof haolam smola" which was one of the most popular films in Israeli history, wasn't even nominated in any of the major categories.Unfair representation of "Sof haolam smola" in the Israeli Oscar robbed the movie of the buzz it could have generated. Also, the film's unfair representation of a certain sector in the Israeli society left me questioning its antagonism, rather than enjoy its undeniable qualities. Qualities it hones in abundance.8.5 out of 10 in my FilmOmeter.

pro_musar Take it from me, as one who is blood and flesh of this community, this is an extremely poignant and ACCURATE film, aside from being first-class cinema. Watching Asi Dayan as the founder of a settlement, Moshe Ivgy as a religious-Zionist loser/tragic hero and the hysterical Yehoram Gaon play an ASHKENAZI cantor was an incredible combination. Enjoy!I think this policy of writing a minimum of ten lines is quite stupid as i am sitting at work right now and do not have the time to compose a magnum opus - this is a stupid policy that undermines intelligent people like myself who do not write long dissertations on films and know that most people do not have the patience to read such diatribes. Thank you.