Taglines: Sometimes, love doesn’t conquer all.
Late Marriage movie storyline. Zaza is a 31-year old Israeli bachelor, handsome and intelligent, and his family wants to see him married. But tradition dictates that Zaza has to choose a young virgin. She must be beautiful and from a good family, preferably rich. Zaza’s parents, Yasha and Lily drag Zaza to meet potential brides and their families.
Zaza has no choice. He plays along with his family, advocates of the suffocating traditions of their Georgian Jewish heritage. But Zaza always manages to somehow get out of being engaged. What his parents don’t know is that Zaza is already in love. Judith is sensuous, strong and intriguing. She’s also a divorcée with a 6-year-old daughter. So Zaza has kept Judith a secret from his family. He will have to choose between respect of the strict confines of family and tradition, or the love of his life.
Late Marriage (Hebrew: חתונה מאוחרת, Hatuna Meuheret) is a 2001 Israeli film directed by Dover Kosashvili. The film centers on Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi, in his breakthrough role, the 31-year-old child of tradition-minded Georgian Jewish immigrants who are anxiously trying to arrange a marriage for him. Unbeknownst to them, he is secretly dating a 34-year-old divorcée, Judith (Ronit Elkabetz). When his parents discover the relationship and violently intervene, Zaza must choose between his family traditions and his love.
Most of the main characters are Georgian-Israeli and the dialogue is partly in the Judaeo-Georgian language and partly in Hebrew. The film was positively reviewed and was Israel’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 74th Academy Awards.
About the Story
Zaza (Lior Ashkenazi) is a 31-year-old Georgian-Israeli PhD student at Tel Aviv University whose family is trying to arrange a marriage for him within the Georgian community. The film’s beginning sees Zaza and his parents Yasha and Lili visiting the home of a possible match, who is still in high school. Zaza is clearly unenthusiastic and it is mentioned that he has seen dozens of prospective brides before this.
After dropping his parents off at their apartment building, Zaza drives to a pay phone and calls his girlfriend Judith (Ronit Elkabetz), a 34-year-old Moroccan-Israeli divorcée who he is dating without his parents’ knowledge. After Judith’s daughter Madona has gone to bed (Judith is unsuccessfully attempting to conceal the relationship from her), Zaza goes to her apartment and they have sex, in an explicit, naturalistic sequence.
Meanwhile, Zaza’s parents find that they have left their housekey in Zaza’s car and spend the night at the home of relatives Simon and Margalit. When Zaza doesn’t answer repeated phone calls during the night, Yasha concludes that he is with Judith; apparently Yasha was aware of the relationship but Zaza had promised him that he would end it. Judith is unacceptable to Zaza’s parents because she is divorced, has a child, and is older than Zaza. A number of Zaza’s relatives stake out Judith’s apartment building, planning to confront the couple and frighten Judith into leaving Zaza.
The next time Zaza visits Judith they do just this, barging into Judith’s apartment and attempting to break up the relationship through polite argument, humiliation, and threats of violence, as Madona (who Judith has finally introduced to Zaza) watches, frightened. At one point Simon takes down a decorative sword hanging on Judith’s wall and holds it to her throat.
Zaza and Judith say little, and eventually Zaza unconvincingly tells Judith that the relationship is over and leaves with his family. Zaza returns shortly after and attempts to resume the evening where it left off, but Judith quietly tells him that she doesn’t want to see him again. Back at his apartment, Zaza has a further confrontation with his parents.
Some time later Zaza’s parents return to Judith’s apartment building. When Judith comes home, Lili approaches her and gives Madona a teddy bear as a peace offering, while Yasha stays in the car. Inside the apartment, Lili asks Judith if she has seen Zaza. Judith initially says that she hasn’t, but soon she tearfully admits that Zaza has been calling her and begging her to marry him.
Judith has refused because Zaza’s reaction when his family invaded her apartment made her realize that “he loves you more than me,” and she has decided the relationship is bad for all concerned. Back in the car, Yasha asks Lili if she will accept Judith as a wife for Zaza. Lili, now more sympathetic toward Judith, tells him that they should wait and see if Zaza gets over her.
Late Marriage (2002)
Hatuna Meuheret
Directed by: Dover Kosashvili
Starring: Lior Ashkenazi, Ronit Elkabetz, Moni Moshonov, Lili Koshashvili, Aya Steinovitz, Rosina Kambus, Dina Doron, Leonid Kanevskiy, Maria Ovanov
Screenplay by: Dover Kosashvili
Production Design by: Avi Fahima
Cinematography by: Daniel Schneor
Film Editing by: Yael Perlov
Costume Design by: Maya Barsky
Set Decoration by: Evelyn Terdiman
Music by: Josef Bardanashvili
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: June 28, 2002
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