Review By Michael Fox, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Scene from The Secrets

Veteran Israeli director Avi Nesher is an uncommonly ambitious and fearless filmmaker.

His latest film, The Secrets, calmly broaches as many taboos as it can.

A gripping and occasionally melodramatic argument for the emancipation of religious women, it draws equally on Yentl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Indeed, it could have been called Chavra Potter and the Yeshiva of Doom, except for the lawyers’ fees.

Naomi is a Talmud prodigy with the promise to be a great scholar and rebbe like her father. Instead, she’s lined up to marry his prize pupil and become a perfect Orthodox wife. She’s mighty strong-willed however, and her father agrees to let her go to an all-girls yeshiva in Safed.

Naomi’s roommates range from a chubby sidekick to a new (yet still goth) frummie, with a wild card named Michelle thrown in for exotic, dramatic spice.

Michelle has just returned from living in France for several years, and her bilingualism comes in handy when she and Naomi are assigned to bring food to a terminally ill French woman, Anouk (Fanny Ardant).

Anouk gradually discloses her secret anguish, inspiring Naomi and Michelle to devise a program of healing kabalistic rituals so she can make peace with God before she dies.

Needless to say, the girls risk extreme punishment for the sins of thinking for themselves and practicing high-level Judaism without being men.

The ancient city of Safed (at least in the movies) is a mysterious catalyst that brings every character’s true nature and inner desires to the fore.

The story goes places you likely won’t expect — and may not appreciate — and, unfortunately for Naomi, what happens in Safed does not stay in Safed.

The Secrets takes us into a world we rarely glimpse, and imbues its inhabitants with passion, humor and a fierce spirit.

It also reflects Israeli cinema’s knack, exemplified by such films as Eytan Fox’s The Bubble, for translating specifically Israeli concerns into entertaining and accessible works that easily transcend borders.

The Secrets will be shown on Sunday, April 18 at 5:30 p.m. at The Neon Movies, in partnership with Cross Creek Church, United Church of Christ, and PFLAG Dayton. Tickets are $8.50 adults, $7.50 students and are available by calling Karen Steiger at 853-0372, at jewishdayton.org, or at the door.