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Product Description
Ruth (Natalie Press) is a devoutly religious Jewish woman who seeks meaning in her submission to the religious Law. Obedient but troubled, she returns from a seminary in Israel to look after her widowed, dying mother in the family home in north London. At her mother's request, Ruth seeks to reunite the family by tracking down her estranged brother David (Joel Chalfen), who has rejected his religious past. He reluctantly agrees to return home but on one condition: he won't let his mother know he's there. Instead, he tries to create a new Law, taking things into his own hands. Their shared family secret and increasingly twisted games constructed around the Biblical Law begin to escalate to violent proportions... Meanwhile, the world around them teeters ever closer to war. Topical in its examination of the links between belief and violence, SONG OF SONGS draws on modern European cinema and Biblical sources to explore the 'return of religion'. Extras: Director Commentary, Short film - Ex Memoria
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital Stereo ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Short Film, SYNOPSIS: Josh Appignanesi's dark drama Song of Songs opens with Ruth (Nathalie Press), a young Orthodox Jewish woman, returning home to the London suburb of Hendon after a long stay in Israel, to tend to her dying mother (Julia Swift). Though initially ultra devout and behaviorally guarded, Ruth harbors a dark and disturbing past that includes erogenous interaction with her brother David (Joel Chalfen). It isn't long before the siblings' paths intersect, and what begins suggestively - with the two reading sensual passages from the Song of Solomon to one another in Hebrew and English - soon turns to full-blown eroticism. In time, David's openly hedonistic attitudes and Ruth's long-latent urges re-open the door to a renewed incestuous affair. Leon Lissek and Felicite du Jeu co-star; Appignanesi and Jay Basu co-authored the script. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: British Independent Film Awards, ...Song of Songs (2005)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Montefiore
Disjointing, spookily claustrophobic but never less than compelling, this film is an odd and rather special addition to the arthouse genre. I'm still not quite sure what to think about it.
Natalie Press is spellbinding as a devout London jewish girl full of repressed desires that spill out into an increasingly twisted relationship with her aggressive but somehow effeminate brother.
All against the background of a repressive ghostly home inside the orthodox community - which is briefly if convincingly portrayed, mostly just to give minimal context to the interior-heavy psychological drama - or melodrama - that plays out between them. The film moves between keys of reality and symbol, sometimes effortlessly, sometimes a little more strained. It's a somewhat 'literary' take, with poetic voiceover taken from the bible - Song Of Songs and other texts.
The precise beats of the story confused me a little but at the least it has ambition both in theme and visuals and it is well directed. Interesting indeed.
Natalie Press is spellbinding as a devout London jewish girl full of repressed desires that spill out into an increasingly twisted relationship with her aggressive but somehow effeminate brother.
All against the background of a repressive ghostly home inside the orthodox community - which is briefly if convincingly portrayed, mostly just to give minimal context to the interior-heavy psychological drama - or melodrama - that plays out between them. The film moves between keys of reality and symbol, sometimes effortlessly, sometimes a little more strained. It's a somewhat 'literary' take, with poetic voiceover taken from the bible - Song Of Songs and other texts.
The precise beats of the story confused me a little but at the least it has ambition both in theme and visuals and it is well directed. Interesting indeed.
By K. Gordon
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Amazon Verified Purchase
This look inside London's world of orthodox Jews, and the near
incestuous relationship between a half-mad, half-brilliant iconoclastic
young Jewish scholar, and his equally intelligent but repressed sister
is never less than interesting.
With the pressure added by their mother dying slowly in her room,
there's a feeling of a pot always about to boil over.
The acting is very good, especially Natalie Press.
But the film's end feels like it tries to wrap things up a little too
neatly, explaining the family's complex, fractured psyche in a way that
felt like a bit of a come down, not a revelation.
None-the-less, a very interesting first film, and one I'd watch again.
incestuous relationship between a half-mad, half-brilliant iconoclastic
young Jewish scholar, and his equally intelligent but repressed sister
is never less than interesting.
With the pressure added by their mother dying slowly in her room,
there's a feeling of a pot always about to boil over.
The acting is very good, especially Natalie Press.
But the film's end feels like it tries to wrap things up a little too
neatly, explaining the family's complex, fractured psyche in a way that
felt like a bit of a come down, not a revelation.
None-the-less, a very interesting first film, and one I'd watch again.
3 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By J. Ezart
Firstly I would like to point out that I have watched a very broad selection of films over the years. Now down to the nitty gritty. I was overwhelmingly disappointed by this film. The heavy storyline came across as laboured and lacking imagination. I cannot recommend this film in anyway and all it left me with was regret that I had asked for it.
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