Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem poster

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem · reception & legacy

2014 · Ronit Elkabetz

How Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

A festival darling out of Cannes' Directors' Fortnight in 2014 and a Golden Globe nominee, it landed as an art-house hit — then Ronit Elkabetz's death in 2016 recast it as her testament, and it's now spoken of as a modern classic of Israeli cinema.

What's debated

Film fans split on whether the single-room, years-in-court structure is hypnotic formal genius or a deliberately punishing endurance test — with everyone agreeing the grind is the point.

Its footprint

In Israel it became a genuine political flashpoint, invoked in public debate over the rabbinical divorce courts and 'agunot' — women whose husbands refuse them a divorce — a rare case of a chamber drama spilling into real legislation talk.

Where it stands

A fixture on 'best courtroom dramas' and one-location-film lists, and a Letterboxd world-cinema favourite carried by the Falconetti-level force of Ronit Elkabetz's face.

★ Did you know? It's the final part of a trilogy the Elkabetz siblings made over a decade about the same marriage — after To Take a Wife (2004) and Shiva (2008) — with Ronit Elkabetz co-writing, co-directing and starring as Viviane throughout; it won Israel's Ophir Award for Best Film and was the country's Oscar submission.