Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Maria Golumbovska It is always good to be able to define yourself. Even if traditions contradict your mind. In this film I saw the case when traditions are evil that rules over weak people. ....and love is not a tradition, it is a decision, not possible without knowing yourself. I like enormously the film, three main actors played excellent. What impressed me a lot were two sequences: the first one - the conversation between а "tradition man" Luzer Twersky and а "non tradition man" Martin Dubreuil; and the second one - when a "tradition man" broke his tradition listening to the song "After Laughter "after his wife left him.

gizmomogwai Looking at Felix and Meira, you can definitely see why many moviegoers might walk away unimpressed by it. Many of them will miss what it's about, or why it exists. It is an understated film, but it says something, albeit softly. It's not exactly Romeo and Juliet, not exactly Clash of Civilizations. It's Felix and Meira.The film tells the story of two people in Montreal, who inhabit the same neighbourhood but live in foreign worlds. That might not seem too novel a concept, but there are interesting specifics, as the secular Felix gets to know Meira, a Hassidic Jew- she can't look him in the eyes, can't choose to have only one child in her marriage. It's not an indictment of Judaism or even religion entirely- it's just about a woman who is unhappy with her life, and her liberation. Whether going into another relationship is the answer is another question. I'm not entirely sure what Felix and Meira saw in each other, except for intriguing differences in lifestyle. But it is an interesting parallel how we see at the end that Felix was also bullied to fit into his family, and interesting that Meira's husband sees how this is the case. I'm not entirely sure what decade this film is supposed to take place in. It's sort of timeless, and while belonging to Montreal, may speak to anyone.

Oslo Jargo (Bartok Kinski) Felix & Meira is the monotonous story of a dreary Meira, stuck in an Orthodox Judaism marriage. She meets the equally dreary Félix, who hasn't spoken to his father in ten years and appears magically at his deathbed. He scores some money at the inheritance, thanks to his equally dreary sister. One day he meets Meira and thus starts the dreary "love".The premise itself is so absurd, yet the execution is even more unbelievable. Soon the husband finds out and pushes the Felix away, but he can't stop this "love". He follows her and yearns for her. Both of them are drudgingly boring people, so they attract.One unintentionally hilarious scene has Felix in the garb dress of an Orthodox Jew, complete with a beard and curls. I guess the local magic shop has some great Jewish outfits and he can just walk into some Jewish Tabernacle without being noticed by the locals. I thought I was watching some spy flick.The ending didn't clarify anything at all, and it was all so pointless and contrived.

David Ferguson Greetings again from the darkness. This movie is filled with quiet and stillness. Maybe moreso than any movie I can recall. With a backdrop of Montreal, New York and Venice, and a theme of forbidden love and self-discovery, the quiet of the actors belie the undercurrent of emotion driving the three leads.Meira (Hadas Yaron) is a Hasidic Jew living with her husband Shulem (Luzer Twersky) and their toddler daughter within an Orthodox community where women are forbidden from listening to "outside" music, creating art, or even looking men directly in the eye. Their mission in life is to serve their husband, have lots of babies, and respect the religion. While many women in the community seem fine with their lot, Meira hides records under the sofa, draws pictures in a pocket-sized notebook, and longs for the excitement and color of the real world.One day, by happenstance, the paths of Meira and Felix (Martin Dubreuil) cross in a neighborhood corner store. He compliments her on her drawing, as she tries to ignore him. By the time they next meet, we have witnessed the painful bedside farewell of Felix to his dying father. It's difficult to tell which is the stronger emotion here – guilt or grief.Soon enough Felix and Meira are finding ways to meet, but there is no crazed display of passion between the two. There is a devastating scene as Felix patiently waits while Meira musters the courage to actually look into his eyes. It's like 50 Shades of Restraint. It turns out, for different reasons, these two lost souls share a common bond of loneliness. Meira's individuality and creativity are stifled by religious oppression, while Felix is coming to grips as the black sheep of a family that no longer exists. When Felix says of his father, "He hated me to death. And then he died.", we understand it's the missed opportunity that weighs on him more than the passing of a long-lost parent.Music plays a vital role in how director Maxine Giroux presents the characters and the story. Wendy Rene's "After Laughter Comes the Tears" is used beautifully, as is Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat". Heck, even a mousetrap becomes music to the desperate ears of Meira. As stated before, the film is incredibly quiet, and I challenge any movie lover to come up with a more painful argument than the one featuring Meira and Shulem whispering at each other from separate beds, or a more powerful scene with fewer spoken words than Shulem and Felix at the kitchen table. On the bright side, watching her walk around in her first ever pair of jeans is a freeing sight to behold.Mr. Giroux presents something very real, yet outside the bounds of what cinema usually brings when forbidden love, religion, loneliness and grief are involved. Ms. Yaron delivers an astounding performance, and it's little wonder this has been such a hit on the festival circuit.