Although there's humour in this excellent, well-acted and unusual film, it's basically a very sad tale about the power of tradition, however stupid, and a man too weak to resist it.
Zaza is a pleasant, clever but spoiled young man. He's still a student at 31 (!?) but despite never having earned a shekel he has his own apartment, car, and credit card, courtesy of his parents, presumably as part of their plan to find him a wife. She must be younger than him, so they even try to fix him up with a 17 year old schoolgirl. He reckons they've introduced him to about a hundred prospective brides, but the trouble is he's in love with Judith, a divorcee who's 3 years older than him and has a delightful 6 year old daughter. The divorcee is played by the wonderful Ronit Elkabetz, who died far too young and was also terrific in "The Band's Visit", "Jaffa" and the trilogy she wrote and directed with her brother Shlomi.
There's a telling moment where Zaza is let into Judith's block of flats and, knowing his family are staking it out, deliberately leaves the door open for them. They duly pile in en masse and treat Judith appallingly in her own home, insulting her, tipping food onto the floor, threatening her with a sword and frightening her child (the writer-director doesn't paint a flattering picture of his own Georgian Jewish community.) Zaza fails miserably to defend her, and it's as if he wanted the confrontation to resolve his dilemma.
Film ends with Zaza's wedding, where he gets drunk and treats his poor young bride appallingly. It will be a miserable marriage, but the oafish patriarchy reigns. BTW, Zaza spends much of the film in a yellow shirt, and even wears a yellow bow tie at his wedding. Hardly traditional, but a rather obvious way to signal his cowardice, and the fact that he wasn't worthy of Judith..
On a personal note I married my wife 31 years ago. She's 3 years older than me, was divorced and had two boys rather than a girl. My father wouldn't see us for years, but eventually came round and on his death bed told my wife he loved her. I'm sure Zaza's father would also have come round if Zaza had married Judith. After all, the father had left the woman he loved and gone back to Zaza's gargantuan mother: another unhappy marriage, I'll bet. To thine own self be true!
Review of Late Marriage
