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.

Shiva
Promotional poster
Directed byRonit Elkabetz
Shlomi Elkabetz
Written byRonit Elkabetz
Shlomi Elkabetz
Produced byGuy Jacoel

Yochanan Kredo
Elie Meirovitz
Eylon Ratzkovsky
Jean-Philippe Reza
Yossi Uzrad
StarringRonit Elkabetz
Albert Iluz
Yaël Abecassis
Simon Abkarian
Hana Laszlo
Moshe Ivgy
Keren Mor
Alon Aboutboul
CinematographyYaron Scharf
Edited byJoel Alexis
Music byMichel Korb
Sergio Leonardi
Distributed byLes Films du Losange
Release dates
  • 2 July 2008 (2008-07-02) (France)
  • 25 September 2008 (2008-09-25) (Israel)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryIsrael
LanguagesFrench
Hebrew
Moroccan Arabic

Plot edit

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 edit

Reception edit

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 edit

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

External links edit