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Arranged
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $13.20
You Save: $6.78 (34%)
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Product Details
- Starring: Doris Belack, Peggy Gormley, Marcia Jean Kurtz, John Rothman, Mimi Lieber
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- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
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- Audience Rating: Unrated
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- Binding: DVD
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- Director: Diane Crespo;Stefan C. Schaefer
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- EAN: 0616892945529
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- Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
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- Label: Film Movement
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- Manufacturer: Film Movement
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- Number of Items: 1
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- Product Group: DVD
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- Publisher: Film Movement
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- Region Code: 1
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- Release Date: 2008-03-04
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- Studio: Film Movement
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- Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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- Title: Arranged
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- UPC: 616892945529
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Avg Customer Rating: 
Product Description: Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. A young Orthodox woman, ROCHEL MESHENBERG, is about to begin her first year as a special education teacher at the local public school. She is also about to embark on what her father and mother call the most exciting time of her life; the process of finding a husband via the time-tested method of using a shadchen, or matchmaker.
As the school year gets underway, Rochel meets NASIRA KHALDI, a Muslim woman of Syrian descent. Nasira is also a first-year teacher. The two young women Rochel in long skirt and conservative blouse, Nasira in headscarf stand out in this public school context. The principal, a secular Westchester Jew, is forever reminding them that although they are some of her smartest, most gifted teachers, they are also stunted by their outmoded customs, religions, and by their patriarchal worldviews. She tells them of her experiences in the women's movement and her desire to see them reach their full potentials.
As the school year progresses, Rochel and Nasira realize they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through what the outside world would call 'arranged marriages.' As their friendship deepens, they are exposed to their respective worlds. They prepare for school at one another's houses, meet one another's families, and discuss commonalities and differences.
Meanwhile they are also both meeting potential spouses. Rochel is having no luck. The shadchen is pairing her with men who, although they have good jobs or prospects, don't match her in intellect, curiosity in the world, or humor. The men presented to Nasira by her family are also not her equal. Rochel begins to question whether this age-old practice is going to work. Nasira has greater faith, as she views her parent's loving union as such a success.
With the family pressure too great, and the dates continuing to go badly, Rochel storms from the house. She visits an estranged cousin, who left the faith years ago, and is exposed to what a secular life might be. Meanwhile Nasira, concerned at her friend's state, and having met a promising prospect herself, does the unthinkable. She manipulates the Orthodox matchmaking system on behalf of her friend. The gamble pays off.
As the school year draws to an end, these two women have found their future spouses. They have also developed a friendship that transcends their insular Brooklyn communities and the religions that seem so at odds in the broader world. They share a friendship that will endure as they move on to become wives and mothers, and continue to be modern women with deep religious convictions.
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Customer Reviews
Fantastic
Arranged is the story of two young teachers in New York City. Both girls comes from traditional homes and find they are the outsiders of their peer groups.
An entertaining and endearing relationship blossoms out of both girls experiences with arranged marriages. I recommend this movie quite highly.
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arranged movie
After I saw "Arranged" at the movie theatre, I was very happy when it finally came out on dvd. It has a wonderful script, and the way it presents the characters and their different but at the same time similarities was incredible! I'm glad I did buy it! Jose Ramos-Atlanta,GA
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Arranged marriages, arranged freindships
THis story, about two kids who happen to be of "opposite", yet very similar relligions, is very common in a place as diverse as Brooklyn. Especially in the work place, and even more so, if the workplace happens to be a school. It's beautiful to see it portraid so realistically.
Rochel and Nasira are very beautful young girls, and very serious. Both have anchient traditions and loving families. Both are free to make their own choices, being citizens of a free country, and both choose to follow their own relligions.
This movie does not harp on the muslim/jewish struggle (it just mentions it once when the children ask about it) there is no political conotation, no propaganda attached to it at all, which is refreshing. it simply tells a charming story that may have occured at one time or another in Brooklyn.
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A Great Movie - And Accurate Too
I thought that this was a very well done film. It was nice and simplistic, and didn't resort to steriotypical portrayals of Jews and Muslims. As an Orthodox Jew, I was happy to see an accurate portrayal of the Othodox community. Anyone who is an "insider" will really appreciate the humor of this movie, and I would highly reccomend it to people of all faiths.
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A heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship
"Arranged" is a delightful tale of a friendship that develops between a traditional Muslim, Nasira [Francis Benhamou] and an Orthodox Jew,Rochel [Zoe Lister Jones] who both teach at a Brooklyn school. A class session raises the question from one of the students :How can a Jew be friends with a Muslim? and this sets the stage for the two women to come together and eventually form a close friendship.
Both Nasira and Rochel are from very traditional backgrounds and though their faiths set them apart from each other, it is also the strictures required by those faiths that bring them together and help them commisserate with each other - they are both in the process of being matchmade by their respective families to 'suitable' young men from their own religious backgrounds. Nasira balks at one of the suitors her father brings forth and Rochel finds herself being put in awkward 'blind dates' by her well-meaning but clueless aunt.
Yes, there are some sappy bits in this movie, but the portrayal of tradition is very credibly done, and the strong acting by the two female leads elevates this movie from just another social commentary. Having come from a very traditional family myself, I can relate to the emotional conflicts these girls go through, and though I rejected the pressures placed upon me, I can also understand and respect why these two young women chose to keep to their traditions and appease their parents. It doesn't mean that they are weak, its ultimately their choice.
This is a subtle and well-directed movie that often elicited smiles and tears as I sat through it. Highly recommended!
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