Felix and Meira

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Maxime Giroux/Starring: Martin Debreuil, Hadas Yuron and Luzer Twersky

Watching Maxime Giroux's Felix and Meira made me think of Boaz Yakin's 1998 drama A Price Above Rubies, which also dealt with a wife unhappy in the confined, oppressive world of an orthodox Jewish home. Giroux's film is hardly original, but it manages to be no less moving. One of its strengths is its minimalistic approach to storytelling.

Set in modern-day Montreal, where Yiddish, French and English intermingle in everyday discourse, the story focuses on Meira (Hadas Yuron), the wife of a Hasid; Shulem (Luzer Twersky), who finds her husband's dogmatism a drain on her pursuit of happiness and a more fulfilling life. Even a simple pleasure, like listening to her favorite album, is frowned upon.

During one of her excursions, a man notices her drawing and compliments her. Admiring her skill, he asks her about the drawing, only to be curtly ignored.

After Meira encounters him again on the streets, she becomes more receptive to his conversation and attention. In spite of the strict Hasid proscription against women talking to men not their husband, Meira finds the friendship and burgeoning romance liberating. She and the man named Felix (Martin Debreuil) begin spending time together. But soon Shulem discovers her indiscretion and orders her to leave for Brooklyn, where her friend--a fellow Hasidic wife--is to put her up for awhile. The temporary exile fulfills a dual purpose: to remove Meira from temptation and time for her to mull over marital duties and commitments. Unfortunately for Shulem, Felix catches wind of the plan and decides to fly to New York to see her.

But the story is also about Felix and his single, unfulfilled life and his failed, familial relationships. Estranged from his father, Felix visits him on his deathbed, hoping for redemption or satisfactory closure, but his father's inability to recognize his son (both literally and figuratively, for sure) leaves both parties dissatisfied.

We see the obvious character parallel; Felix's unhappy relationship with his father and Meira's marital discontent.

The film's pace is very deliberate and Giroux often allows long pauses fraught with dramatic import rather than dialogue to tell the story. Lovely, memorable images abound. One such image is seen in a Times Square Hotel, after Felix and Meira meet in New York. During a moment in Felix's room, we expect passionate release but instead, we see them sit against the window in the dark; the glare of Times Square providing a glow by which their bodies are softly illuminated. It's a beautiful visual uncluttered by a talky exchange. The scene typifies Giroux's visual design.

As Felix and Meira explore Manhattan and Brooklyn's sights and sounds, she awakens to new experiences, like dancing and walking hand in hand with a man not her husband. In another scene that is startling for its touching simplicity, we see Meira try on what may be her first pair of snug jeans, which she models for Felix. His reaction is rapturous, as is ours.

In time, Shulem flies to New York himself and discovers the tryst, which results in a violent street confrontation.

Though Shulem returns to Montreal with Meira, she cannot shake the experience and Felix refuses to give her up. Nothing is simple and neat in how the story plays out. The ending leaves us with many doubts and questions, which reflects Giroux's refreshing determination to leave things messy.

I thought the film showed an even-handedness toward the Hasidic culture. It didn't condemn their mores; it managed to show the joy it imparts to its adherents.

How one assesses Giroux's film will depend mostly on how one handles the deliberate pace and its refusal to resort to conventional storytelling. Giroux does a fine job with the actors; the performances were defined by facial expressions and silent reactions, often without the safety net of dialogue.

I don't know that I can call Felix and Meira great but it is poignant and I found the characters beautifully and humanly drawn. If one craves a story both psychologically and culturally rich, this is the film to see.