Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm all the days of her life. In 1984, Peter Weir's film Witness was applauded for its insightful depiction of an Amish community. The film studied the impact of an outsider on a closed religious community and the effect of such a community on the outsider. In director Boaz Yakin's latest film, A Price Above Rubies , the outsider is someone within.
Rubies is a feminist exploration of one woman's perspective in a male-dominated culture.
When her beloved brother, Yossi, dies suddenly her cravings and need for security multiply. We first meet the adult Sonia as she is giving birth and screaming out the name of her dead brother. Rubies portrays a world where gender roles are clearly demarcated - and childbirth is women's business. We can sympathise with Sonia in the next scene when she has to hand her newborn son over into the men-only domain to be circumcised by an aged Rabbi. I assume Sonia's marriage was arranged because neither partner seems capable of attracting the other.