Disobedience (2017) — review
I was ranting this in my Facebook timeline on the day when Article 377 was scrapped (decriminalization of homosexuality) by Indian Supreme Court:
I recently attended a queer film festival (Chennai International Queer Film Festival) where people from the Queer community raised concerns on why there is no equal and proper representation of their community in the pop culture (which means popular media). I thought, it could be the people from the community in first place who must come forward to narrate about their own lives so that the so called ‘normal’ people do not pollute the media with misconceptions about the community.
All the feature films screened in the film festival was not popular at all to the outside world. And, I was wondering why. Maybe the existence of Article 377 in India could be the reason.
There is a reason why I bluff all these under the title of a movie review.
I am at Toronto right now on a short term official trip. Movies that I had always got to watch in my flight journeys turned out to be my classic hunts. So was this movie called ‘Disobedience (2017)’.
The connect here is, when I reached Toronto and googled about the movie, I came to know that the movie had its premiere in Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2017.
But, why don’t these movies hit the big screens so that they turn out to be wonderful awareness about the Queer community to the rest of the world? Why man, why?!!!
The movie begins with a Rabbi (religious leader) who delivers the below lecture in an orthodox Jewish congregation in London:
“In the beginning, Hashem made 3 types of creatures — the Angels, the Beasts and the Human Beings.
The Angels he made from His pure word. The Angels have no will to do evil. They cannot deviate for one moment form His purpose.
The Beasts have only their instincts to guide them. They too follow the commands of their maker.
The Torah states that Hashem spent almost six whole days of creation, fashioning these creatures.
Then, just before sunset, He took a small quantity of earth and from it He fashioned, man and the woman. An afterthought? Or His crowning achievement? So, what is this thing? Man? Woman? It is a being with the power to disobey. Alone among all the creatures we have free will.
We hang suspended between the clarity of the angels and the desires of the beasts. Hashem gave us choice, which is both a privilege and a burden. We must then choose the tangled life we live”
He collapses as he completes this lecture.
Upon his demise, preparations go on in the community to make Dovid, the chosen disciple of Rabbi as the next head of the community.
Story thus unfolds as we come to know that Dovid and Ronit, the daughter of Rabbi, were childhood friends. The third musketeer in the gang was Esti. Since Rabbi used to insist Ronit to marry Dovid, she escaped from the city and finds a living in the New York. Since Esti is a firm believer of God, she follows Rabbi’s orders to marry Dovid despite being unwilling.
When Ronit comes back for her father’s funeral, we come to know she and Esti identified themselves to have got fancy for women. Rational and outspoken Ronit escapes the orthodox community while Pious Esti happens to marry Dovid and encounter obligatory sex with him every weekend.
When Dovid comes to know Esti was fond of Ronit and vice versa, Esti becomes pregnant. Esti demands Dovid to give her freedom.
Dovid who is supposed to take over the community’s proceedings, he messes up with the introductory speech he prepared, to be delivered as the new head of the community. He gets reminded of Rabbi’s last words about free will. He confesses to the crowd telling he hasn’t got enough understanding about the religious philosophies and feels unworthy to take over Rabbi. Thus, he gets enlightened to give the freedom that Esti deserved.
Esti decides to get her child delivered and to stay in Dovid’s house but not together. Ronit decides to go back to New York. Esti and Ronit share a final kiss.
Now, go back to the block quote in the beginning of this review and you are going to feel good :)
This is just the plot and you must really watch the movie to understand how people from the queer community psychologically suffer from being something and doing something else.
I badly wish this movie had hit the pop media!
