This film has without a doubt the longest and most erotic bedroom scene ever done in movies. You can actually see the guy's aroused state if you look close enough. That's a first for me in film. To say my hormones were bouncing around would be an understatement. The male lead and his knock-out female companion were not kidding around when they did this scene. It was for real and that's no joke. I had just seen the male lead in another fabulous film, Walking on Water, where I came to the realization he has to be one of the hottest men in the movies, but Water only hints at just how hot this guy is where in this film he ascends to the highest plane of hotness. Paired with the hottest female ever seen in film the duo make magic in spades. It has taken me a couple of days to calm down from this flick!

The movie is, on the surface about a strong willed family's attempt to steer their errant man child (as in doesn't follow the family rules on finding a marital partner who meets the requirements: younger; unmarried; unsullied; and malleable) out of independence towards conformity.We see him dragged off to sit and watch his, and a prospective bride's, family discuss them as pieces of merchandise. The callousness is presented as comedy, but is clearly intended for us to see how familial, tribal, values supersede those of the individual. The couple is encouraged to go off to the prospective bride's bedroom, where it is clearly intended for them to try out the merchandise. The older (31) male is clearly uncomfortable with the predatory nature of the girl (17), and ends up dealing with the "choice" offered with muteness. Soon we see that this is his preferred tactic within his familial zoo.As it turns out he already has a lover, an older(35)divorced woman with a child. To his family she is absolutely out of the question as a future member of the family, and soon they gather outside her apartment to plot how they will dissuade her.The responsibility of the situation is clearly foisted upon her, as the evil sorceress who has bewitched their boy (ironically she has attempted to put an amateurish spell on him by burning her underwear stained with his semen) and they troop up to the apartment to surprise the lovers.What follows is an insult fest aimed at the divorcée - in full view of her young daughter, who is treated kindly by the older women while they skewer her mother with contempt and the men threaten her with physical harm - who takes it quietly and almost expectantly of the required tribal ritual of casting her out of the picture as competition.This scene again seems to be presented as comedic, but comes across as a horror show to the uninitiated. Clearly no-one in the room seems able or willing to question the cruelty of the procedure. Our "hero" is mute, and the woman has no defense, telling us reams about how powerfully attached he is to the tribe, no matter how he might wish to be independent of it. And this is the crux of the movie. Blood is thicker than water but tribal blood is molasses.The final scene, of guess who's marriage celebration, shows him taking on the tribal mores of brutish cruelty, and destructive passive aggressiveness of the emasculated male. But it is clear that he offered up his testicles for sacrifice rather than had them removed. He is no pioneer, merely a dreamer; a man of inaction and his loss is his passion for risk taking; the core of vitality.

This film is certainly well acted. The actors seem like real people. They have characters that are fleshed out in sufficient fashion. The film deals with a life situation that is unknown to me and thusly a good thing--by providing insight in a slice of life that I would never have known about. All of that may make one think that this is a film worth watching. That is not the case. When it was over, I kept thinking, "what a waste of time." I can enjoy a "small film" as this certainly is and generally tend to prefer them over typical Hollywood blockbusters. In my opinion, this was a small film whose audience probably is those who are affected by Israeli customs. I guess for me, it did not speak to my life in any way and seemed like a waste, even though I can say that it was about as well done as it could be for what it was about.Have I confused you? I suppose the issue is, unless you have a particular interest in daily Israeli customs, I doubt you would find this worth your time. Also, I think the reason this film was such a downer for me is because there were no sympathetic characters, no one I could care about. They were all bound by custom and none could live successfully against the repressive rules. Not that I demand a happy ending, it just seemed unremittingly depressing for no good end. It wasn't a bad film but I would prefer to have those hours back.

I thought this was an interesting film, though it didn't cover as much of the relationship between the guy and his family. As an ethnic Korean male, I can understand family pressure on marriage and to marry someone who will fit in. The good thing about the film was the end, as unlike most Hollywood fare, the ending was very realistic in that it didn't fall into cliche and the like. It presented the probable ending as opposed to the sentimental ending.Three stars.