Purity

A story about a purification ritual prescribed for women belonging to traditional religious Jewish communities. The director succeeded in entering the intimate circle of people living in a conservative society, ruled by regulations and restrictions. These stern religious laws shape married life and female sexuality. They have not changed throughout history. According to the two-thousand-year old Jewish tradition, a woman is considered unclean during her menstruation period, in which she has to isolate herself and follow certain rites of purification. Director Anat Zuria and her friends Natalie, Katie and Shira very openly criticise the rigidity of these religious rules. They are discussed among mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. The main characters in the film are quite rebellious women who dare to express their opinion about this taboo subject in the Jewish religious community. The topic has hardly ever been documented on film. The wonderful camera work gives a special touch to the tough subject. It looks as if the director admires the ritual and its meaning, but at the same time disagrees with having it arranged so strictly and immutably in society. The sequences in the bath, where the sound of water is heard, stress the meditative and sacred quality of the ritual.