Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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

lavatch In the opening scene of "Félix & Meira," it is clear that the character Meira is just waiting for her moment of liberation from her repressed life in a Hasidic Jewish community in Quebec. One of the most famous plays of the 19th century is Ibsen's "A Doll's House," in which the character Nora Helmer similarly braces herself for the opportune moment to walk out on her stultifying home life.But a major difference between Ibsen's writing and that of this film is in the ability for the audience to see the development of the protagonist, the evolution of her courage, and her moment-to-moment thought process in her life-changing decision. A shortcoming of "Félix & Meira" is the static nature of the film, even when the character makes the courageous decision to walk out on her husband and her community.Similarly, the enigmatic Félix is also underdeveloped as a character. There is a startling moment when the rabbi husband of Meira reads a letter left to Félix by his recently deceased father. The father offers a heartfelt apology for the way he treated his son and adversely impacted his life. Yet it is never made clear in the film whether the letter has had even the slightest impact on Félix.Much of the plotting of the film was clumsy with sudden changes from Quebec to Brookyn, where Félix adopts a truly bizarre disguise, and, later, to Venice, where Félix, Meira, and her child suddenly show up. Again, there was no arc of development of the characters. This is most apparent in a stunning moment when Félix touches Meira's hair, only to discover that it is wig. Yet Meira continues to wear the wig to the very end of the film.It was easy to see why Meira would want to sever ties with her husband. At one point, she confesses to a friend that she is reluctant to bear "6, 10, or 14" children, as required by custom. The friend immediately reports the conversation to the husband, betraying Meira and making her life even more claustrophobic. In one of her early meetings with Félix, Meira confesses that "I'd like to know what it's like to be single." It is unfortunate that she never comes close to experiencing her wish.

jakob13 Maxime Giroux's 'Felix and Meira' tone is set from the very first frame, captured in black and white. Malka or Meira plays with her soup with a soup spoon, a Shabbos meal. Her husband with finely curled ear locks, wearing a black hat trimmed in sable, and wearing a long black silk coat celebrates the Sabbath with gusto, in song and food and the pouring of wine. Meira feels estranged from this world of ultra Orthodox Jews, living in Montreal. A community that keeps very much to itself; insulated religiously in a world of Yiddish and Hebrew, prayers and rituals. A world in which husband and wife sleep in separate beds, according to tradition; coitus takes place only during days of ovulation; menstruation renders her impure, a ritual bath cleanses her. Malka wears a wig, long garments, She has but one duty to bear her husband many children. She doesn't; after the birth of her daughter she takes up pen and notebook to draw; she has a certain talent. She likes music which her husband forbids. She's listless and wanders aimlessly in her mind. In secret, she takes birth control tablets, for she doesn't want more children. And into her universe comes a secular man, an artist of sorts, a lost soul who feels empty because a strict father has never shown him love or interest since he didn't follow in the man's footsteps, it's inferred. So Felix travels and is now back in his own flat in Montreal, perhaps in Westmount, a Jewish enclave of Anglophone Jews. And as the narrative develops these two souls collide and a desperate, quite love arises between them. Too, late Meira's husband declares his love for her, but she is beyond his pleas for she has left an tradition from which she cut herself off and can never return. (Woody Allen treats the theme but without tragedy in 'Fading Gigolo', and Boaz Yakin treated seriously in the 1998 film 'A Price Above Rubies', with more or less the same outcome as Giroux's film.) The closing scenes are shot in Venice, on a grey day. A in an aside, Meira wishes regrets she has taken her daughter out of structured community, for life with her and Felix. Felix stolidly stares into the mournful cast of Venetian light. The pairing will never be happy, but, it is suggested, that in desperation they will cling to each other.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. This movie is filled with quiet and stillness. Maybe moreso than any movie I can recall. With a backdrop of Montreal, New York and Venice, and a theme of forbidden love and self-discovery, the quiet of the actors belie the undercurrent of emotion driving the three leads.Meira (Hadas Yaron) is a Hasidic Jew living with her husband Shulem (Luzer Twersky) and their toddler daughter within an Orthodox community where women are forbidden from listening to "outside" music, creating art, or even looking men directly in the eye. Their mission in life is to serve their husband, have lots of babies, and respect the religion. While many women in the community seem fine with their lot, Meira hides records under the sofa, draws pictures in a pocket-sized notebook, and longs for the excitement and color of the real world.One day, by happenstance, the paths of Meira and Felix (Martin Dubreuil) cross in a neighborhood corner store. He compliments her on her drawing, as she tries to ignore him. By the time they next meet, we have witnessed the painful bedside farewell of Felix to his dying father. It's difficult to tell which is the stronger emotion here – guilt or grief.Soon enough Felix and Meira are finding ways to meet, but there is no crazed display of passion between the two. There is a devastating scene as Felix patiently waits while Meira musters the courage to actually look into his eyes. It's like 50 Shades of Restraint. It turns out, for different reasons, these two lost souls share a common bond of loneliness. Meira's individuality and creativity are stifled by religious oppression, while Felix is coming to grips as the black sheep of a family that no longer exists. When Felix says of his father, "He hated me to death. And then he died.", we understand it's the missed opportunity that weighs on him more than the passing of a long-lost parent.Music plays a vital role in how director Maxine Giroux presents the characters and the story. Wendy Rene's "After Laughter Comes the Tears" is used beautifully, as is Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat". Heck, even a mousetrap becomes music to the desperate ears of Meira. As stated before, the film is incredibly quiet, and I challenge any movie lover to come up with a more painful argument than the one featuring Meira and Shulem whispering at each other from separate beds, or a more powerful scene with fewer spoken words than Shulem and Felix at the kitchen table. On the bright side, watching her walk around in her first ever pair of jeans is a freeing sight to behold.Mr. Giroux presents something very real, yet outside the bounds of what cinema usually brings when forbidden love, religion, loneliness and grief are involved. Ms. Yaron delivers an astounding performance, and it's little wonder this has been such a hit on the festival circuit.

Hint523 Felix and Meria begins with a traditional Hasidic Jewish dinner: singing, celebration and religious clothing. Everyone seems comfortable except for Meria, our protagonist, and immediately through visuals we sense that something does not sit well with her. Thus begins the major conflict of the film as Meria debates internally her commitment to tradition.Because of the timeless nature of this culture, at the beginning it is deliberately unclear what time period the film takes place in. Meria is scolded by her extremely traditional husband for playing LP records, indicating the film is a period piece. Yet as the film goes on and Meria slowly ventures outside of her Hasidic bubble, we realize that the film does in fact take place in present day, yet we discover it through her eyes and slowly it becomes more modern. The visual palette (like a love child of last year's Ida and A Most Violent Year) distinctly drives Meria's journey. This makes the modern world look in a distinct way unlike anything I have ever seen in a movie.While focusing on Meria and her doubts in her beliefs, it quick develops into a love story. Despite being married and living among the traditional culture, Meria falls for Felix, a bachelor without the same family values. This isn't the adulterous kind of romance - everything is subdued, making even holding hands feel like a display of passion. The suspense remains because of how forbidden the relationship is in the first place, and thanks to top-tier performances and direction, the relationship between protagonists never feels inauthentic.The dramatic sequences scattered throughout the film significantly outweigh the overall narrative. The symbols are rich without being overt. As said above, this is a movie full of subtlety that matches the emotional tone of the characters. The only not subtle moment happens right after Felix and Meria first spend time together, when the film transitions to an isolated clip seemingly unrelated yet emotionally moving. I would have been happy to see more of these, but alas because it only happened once it draws more power to itself.As stated above the primary conflict of the film is tradition vs. love, which is incredibly powerful yet not as universal in today's world. Unfortunately, Meria's husband is reduced to being a caricature and not given enough complexity as a character. Had he been more layered, it would increase the stakes in how difficult it would be for Meria to decide to stray away from him. Regardless, this is the romantic drama that people should yearn for. Most romance audience prefer the more saccharine Nicholas Sparks adaptations, but could truly enjoy seeing something much more subtle and powerful as seen in Felix and Meria.