selenak

Back when I watched Unorthodox, more than one person told me to watch Shtisel. Now that I've seen the first season on Netflix, I googled for reviews and see this happened to several over viewers, too (being told to watch Shtisel, that is, especially if the reccer hadn't liked Unorthodox. I can see why, given that the main plot line of Unorthodox consists of our central character leaving her ultraorthodox community, whereas Shtisel takes place entirely in such a community (in Israel, though, not the US), and feel no desire to leave; the only character who leaves is a very minor supporting character, and the narrative point of his leaving is the effect it has on two other characters and how they cope with it.

Now, there's definitely room in my tv world for both (very different) types of stories. Shtisel, the first season, is at its heart a gentle family soap opera. The family in question, whose last name is the title, consists of (in the first season, since in family soaps more members show up in later seasons, I'm adding this qualifier): Shulem Shtisel, family patriarch, 62 years, teacher at a local school; his youngest son Akiva, 26, also working as a teacher at the same school but with a passion for art, specifically, painting; Giti, the sister, married with five children (and the character whose storyline, together with her daughter Ruchami's, moved me the most; also, Giti and Ruchami reveal themselves as arguably the most competent people in the family, and it's amazing to watch), and Shulem's 88 years old mother Malka. Also around, but given far less screen time: the older son, Zvi Arye, and the other sister, Rachel, whose existence is only comes up in the second half of the season. Shtisel employs Jane Austen tactics in that a lot of the plot(s) are driven by matchmaking attempts (the season kicks off with the widowed Shulem (and everyone else, but Shulem most of all) absolutely wanting Akiva to marry, and with the various (mis)matches that ensue), but this works in character and society revealing ways, plus with one exception (Akiva and the one woman no one wants him to marry), the relationships given narrative exploration are the family and friendship ones.

The majority of the dialogue is in Hebrew, but there's enough Yiddish so I frequently tested myself by trying not to read the subtitles whenever the characters switched languages (usually, but not exclusively, when Shulem talked to his mother or Malka to other family members). There's a lot of humor in the show, but I never had the impression that it ridiculed the characters, even if the gags resulted from their flaws (like Malka's ongoing rivalry with another old lady in her retirement community). And for all that it's firmly committed to its setting, several of the difficulties the characters face are directly linked to it, like in Giti's case. The one bit where I had to suspend my disbelief is when Akiva goes from someone we've only seen making sketches with pen and pencil to being able (very well) to paint in oil after seemingly just one crash lesson. Look, I've read my Van Gogh biographies and letters, and if I recall correctly, it took our Vincent months and months (and tutelage by his successful cousin) to make that step. Do you want me to believe Akiva is better than Vincent van Gogh, show?

Anyway, based on the first season, it's a charming, endearing series, and the actors are all excellent, plus it's oddly relaxing when the characters you're following don't have to save the world/the country but have to figure out their lives.