Shiva (2008 film)

2008 Israeli film

2 July 2008 (2008-07-02) (France)
25 September 2008 (2008-09-25) (Israel)

Running time

103 minutesCountryIsraelLanguagesFrench
Hebrew
Moroccan Arabic

Shiva is a 2008 Israeli drama film, also known by its English title as 7 Days, Seven Days and The Seven Days by Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz. It is the second feature to be directed by the siblings following the unhappy marriage of Viviane Amsalem following 2004's To Take a Wife. In 2014 it was succeeded by the final film in the trilogy Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem.

Plot

For seven days a large family of Moroccan descent observes the Jewish mourning ritual of shiva when a brother dies. Living together again reveals many tensions and conflicts between family members. Amid the tensions, the Gulf War rages in the background.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Cast

Ronit Elkabetz as Vivianne
Albert Lluz as Meir
Yael Abecassis as Lili
Simon Abkarian as Eliau
Hana Laszlo as Ita
Moshe Ivgy as Haim
Keren Mor as Ilana
Alon Aboutboul as Itamar

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Variety compared it unfavourably to To Take a Wife while at the same time praising the acting as "flawless".^[4] The Jerusalem Post wondered "why they ha[d] been asked to spend two hours listening to the angry resentments of a disintegrating family, even if they admire the cast and co-directors' skill..."^[5]

References

^ "Israeli film maker Ronit Elkabetz" Euro News. Retrieved 28 June 2010
^ "Israeli films favored in Cannes" Ynetnews 16 May 2008
^ "Israeli family sitting 'Shiva; finds all its enemies within" 19 February 2009. Jewish Weekly
^ Weissberg, Jay. "Review: 'The Seven Days'". Variety. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
^ Brown, Hannah. "Movie review: Seven Days of anguish". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 December 2015.