Dover Koshashvili - Hatuna Meuheret aka Late Marriage (2001)

Synopsis: A couple sets out to find the perfect bride for their son, whether their son likes it or not, in this Israeli comedy. Zaza (Lior Louie Ashkenazi) is a graduate student in his early thirties who has finally found the woman of his dreams -- Judith (Ronit Elkabetz), a Moroccan immigrant with a daughter, Madonna (Sapir Kugman), from a previous marriage. Zaza and Judith have similar interests, a great personal rapport, a keen understanding of one another's feelings, and excellent sexual chemistry, but for Zaza there's one little problem -- his parents.
His mother Lili (Lili Kosashvili) and father Yasha (Moni Moshonov) are bound and determined to marry their son to a nice Georgian Jewish girl (who is, of course, a virgin), and they not only disapprove of Zaza's relationship with Judith, they insist on fixing him up on dates as if he isn't in a committed relationship; when that fails to make an impression on Zaza, Lili and Yasha use emotional blackmail against their son, and Lili even goes so far as to confront Judith and insist she stop seeing her son. Late Marriage was shown at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard series; Lili Kosashvili, who makes her screen debut playing Lili, is actually the mother of the film's writer/director, Dover Kosashvili.  -Mark Deming (AMG)

Review: From its opening moments, Dover Kosashvili's Late Marriage treads a fine and dangerous line. Kosashvili apparently has no fear of leaving the audience asking, "Is this supposed to be funny?" Of course, the same can be said for Amerindie darlings Neil LaBute and Todd Solondz, and while Late Marriage occasionally inspires the same queasy feelings as their work, Kosashvili is, in the end, a more honest filmmaker. He gets right into the world of these characters. He doesn't allow himself or the audience the luxury of simply looking down on them and feeling superior. Zaza (Lior Louie Ashkenazi) is intelligent, handsome, and charming, so Judith's (Ronit Elkabetz) attraction to him is believable. He has a sense of humor about his predicament. But he's also lazy, cynical, spoiled, self-involved, and infuriatingly passive. Kosashvili presents the film's eroticism as matter-of-factly as he does its family drama. But from Zaza's flirtation with a precocious 17-year-old to his passionate assignations with Judith, Kosashvili doesn't shy away from the seaminess of Zaza's romantic life. In the end, even the graphic sex scenes are infused with the feeling of ugliness that permeates the film. This feeling reaches its peak in the pivotal scene where Zaza's meddling family confronts Judith, and in the final wedding scene. The film can be seen as a dark comedy, but it's a challenging work that may not generate much laughter. Late Marriage throws the viewer off balance, looking blankly at a society ruled by misogynistic and inhumane traditions, and thus leaving the audience to make its own judgments, about both the behavior depicted and the filmmaker's intentions.  -Josh Ralske (AMG)