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"We are rolling out an idea for a sequel": Hagai Levy sums up the wonderful journey of "Pictures from Marriage"

After a premiere screening in Venice, a closing screening at New York's elite stronghold, raging reviews and lively discourse on the networks, Hagai Levy sums up the wonderful journey of "Pictures from Marriage" and discovers that a second season is definitely possible.

And also: about sex, Jewish identity, the rumors and tears of Jessica Chastain

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• Hagai Levy

• Pictures from married life

• Jessica Chastain

• Oscar Isaac

Avner Shavit

Monday, 18 October 2021, 01:11 Updated: 01:59

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Trailer for the series "Pictures from Marriage" (HBO)

It is customary to say - "In the end it will end in crying", but in "Pictures from Marriage", the crying came already in the fourth and penultimate episode. The separated couple, played by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, wage a verbal knife fight that moves to particularly high tones, and even reaches violent streaks - and of course tears.

"Jessica cried for four months in a row because of this episode," says Hagai Levy, creator and director of the series. Of all the five episodes, it was the most special episode. On the one hand, when we read it in rehearsals we realized that it works as it is, and there is almost no need to change it. What you see is more or less what we filmed - there was almost no editing work. "And as we approached the filming of the episode, the atmosphere became tense. Oscar and Jessica, who are usually very close, kept moving away. It was a crazy experience, which took time to recover from."

Levy and his team were required to recover to film the fifth episode, which aired last week, summed up the series and also perpetuated its just status as one of the most talked about and appreciated television works of recent times. As an illustration of this, Levy's interview with Walla Culture! Held as part of the graduation celebrations, is no less than its 131st in recent months.

The journey of "Pictures from a Married Life" began at the beginning of last autumn, when it became one of the first series in history to have a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, usually dedicated to films. "I always wanted to be at a film festival and I was a little jealous of friends and colleagues who won it, so it was a dream come true for me," says Levy, who recorded in the chronicles of contemporary television thanks to "In Treatment" and was successful with "The Novel", but not yet. has come.

The miraculous journey continued and was signed last week, with a celebratory premiere of the final episode held at the MoMA Museum, one of the strongholds of the New York cultural elite, where I met Levy.

More on Walla!

Distrust, blackmail, resentment and soul: the 5 amazing moments of "heirs"

To the full article

fulfill a dream.

Hagai Levy (Photo: Jojo Wilden / HBO)

"Of course you write things to evoke emotional responses, and yet the intensities of anger and hatred surprised me"

As told in the previous 130 interviews with him, the series is based on the classic work of the same name by Ingmar Bergman from the early 1970s. The person who initiated the reworking was his son Daniel, who approached the Israeli creator and initiated the project.

Levy maintained the plot basis of the original - the story of a divorced married couple following infidelity. He moved the plot to modern-day Boston, and more importantly, made a gender reversal. In contrast to the Swedish version, this time the woman is the one who runs the affair out of wedlock and leads to the dissolution of the relationship.

The day before the final episode aired, Jessica Chastain posted an article on Twitter claiming that her character was re-framing the act of betrayal as a feminist act. She, and Levy, agree with every word.

"In Europe, the reactions to Jessica's character were good - but in America they were angry with her and even hated her," Levy says.

"It surprised me because I was so emotionally invested in her, I understood all her nuances and loved her. Of course you write things to evoke emotional responses, and yet the intensities of anger and hatred surprised me."

"If I try to understand where this is coming from, the answer is that society perceives women's betrayal differently than men's betrayal. American society is even more puritanical than Israeli society. It is compulsively engaged in raising children. The child has become the family center and countless books are written on how to raise a more successful and happy child. "Therefore, those who betray and dare to challenge the family unit provoke more severe reactions than anywhere else."

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac at the screening of the closing episode

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"We put a lot of work into making the protagonist a sympathetic character, who needs a lot of protection from the pain. I think the audience feels it, because I got a lot of texts from women who told me the series gave them a voice."

Let's go back to the starting point for a moment. You're sitting with your regular screenwriter, Aussie Nesheri. How do you build this character?

"At first, we sat together and read the original script as it was, only with the reversal of the characters, with the woman cheating and not the man. Originally, the man is a cold, chauvinistic, cruel and generally unbearable man, but when he put his texts in a woman's mouth, I felt I understood her "There's an act of liberation here. That if she does not betray, she will die.

" I think the audience feels it, because I got a lot of texts from women who told me that the series gave them a voice. "In the

"You have to remember that everything is based on the source. In Bergman, the betrayed woman sits on the treacherous man. She is only interested in her personal pleasure, and then we realize she slept with him too to prove to herself that she does not need him. Once that happens, Bergman presents a close-up on Her face when she cums, and the feeling is that this is an act of release. "

"I had to find a parallel to this thing, which would present sex as an egocentric act. The answer was to present sex as aggressive, and it also symbolizes the personality change that has taken place over time in the betrayed man, who is becoming more and more powerful. There was some concern that it would look like revenge sex, but I I thought so".

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"In a relationship with a Jewish woman, there is a certain closeness, something pleasant and comfortable. I know this from close experience, because about two years ago I had a relationship with a Datlash like me."

Ingmar Bergman was a Christian, the son of a priest, and this is reflected in his works. Levy, on the other hand, is a Jew who studied in a high school yeshiva and came out in question. This biography is embodied in the character of the protagonist "Pictures from a Married Life" - a member of a Jewish-American-Orthodox family who has returned to the question, but when asked to define himself, answers first of all "I am a Jew".

"When I was in the army, I had a friend whose father was a rabbi, and she told me, 'It's easier for me to imagine myself as a man than to imagine myself not a Jew, and that amazed me," Levy says. "If they asked me 'are you Jewish' or 'Israeli' I would answer that first and foremost a Jew, it is very deep in my hierarchy. When the protagonist says this, the statement comes from the subconscious, without necessarily meaning it. He himself is surprised by what he said.

"I was dealing here with American characters, who are neither from my culture nor my language. The design of the hero as a returning Jew was a door for me to their world, which equipped me with a little more tools. For me, it was a statement 'I am Jewish and I was religious, and I know this character.'

"There's another reason: because of the gender reversal, a man is created here who is not really an alpha type. He is naturally softer and less impulsive. It dressed me well against the religious background, because when you come from the religious world, you are naturally less passionate. You go "Because of moral values ​​and not because of passions, and you have inhibitions about sex."

"It's not a religious matter. If so, over time the protagonist becomes a less moral and less religious person. The question of 'how to be a good person', which has so preoccupied him, moves away from him. He becomes almost nihilistic, or at least egocentric. A relationship with a Jew is a matter of Belonging, not of religion. This is something that is difficult for Americans to understand. In a relationship with a Jewish woman, there is a certain closeness, something pleasant and comfortable. Empty, and then someone comes and says 'hello', and you think to yourself 'wow, that's my language' ".

"They still make an issue of it, and it surprised me how much. I thought it was no longer an issue, but it is absolutely yes. This moment, that you come to your parents and say you are in a non-Jewish relationship - it is a moment that has a charge and has meaning."

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A post shared by Jessica Chastain (@jessicachastain)

"'In therapy' was born almost out of anger, defiance. I wanted to come and put therapy in the center and say 'Come on, look what therapy really looks like.'"

What do you think would have been different in the series if you had produced it in Israel and not in America?

"In the past, 'Pictures from Marriage' was uploaded as stage productions in Israel. I watched these plays, and the acting performances were very beautiful, but there was always a feeling that a foreign play was played in Hebrew. There is a big difference in mentality, so the answer is - the result was very different. The 'pictures from married life' to Israeli theater, but it will require conversion.

"In American culture there is a deep belief that if we talk about things - we will solve them. There is an optimistic belief in the power of dialogue to solve everything. The perception is that we will talk about things until death. In Israel, people believe it less. Maybe that's why the conflict with the Palestinians has not yet been resolved

"'In Therapy' was born, among other things, in response to the way it was customary to present psychological therapy on television and in the cinema. "Two minutes here, two minutes there, and he never stood in the center of the episodes. My reaction was born almost out of anger, defiance. I wanted to come and put the treatment at the center and say, 'Come on, look what treatment really looks like.'"

Rare chemistry.

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac in "Pictures from a Marriage" (Photo: HBO)

I knew that if Oscar played the protagonist, powers and sex appeal would still erupt through neuroticism and intellectuality.

If I had taken a small, bent Jewish actor to play the character, it would not have happened, and the character would have simply evaporated. "

The protagonist is Jewish, but Oscar Isaac who plays him - not like that in reality. Recently, there has been a lively discussion in the American media around the tendency to cast non-Jewish actors to play Jewish characters. What do you think about the issue?

"It was not a consideration at all, and the question was not on the agenda for me. There were other candidates on the Oscar side, and they were not Jewish either.

" Oscar has a rough side, and on his side also a softer and more complicated side, and that suited the character. The protagonist is an intellectual Jew with a rather neurotic body language, and I knew that if Oscar played him, he would still have powers and sex appeal through this neuroticism and intellectuality. If I took a small, bent Jewish actor to play the character, it would not happen, and the character would simply evaporate. "And

"Michelle Williams was already closed for the role, but in the end it didn't help. We also thought of Cate Blanchett, but she was already too old to figure out. I wanted Jessica, but there were rumors that it was difficult and actually impossible to work with her. Oscar knows Those years - they studied acting together at Juilliard, and already played a married couple in the movie 'A Very Tough Year'. He really wanted her, and that didn't help either, because there was a lot of opposition to it. Joined the project within 24 hours. It was a real miracle.

"Of course all the rumors about Jessica are unfounded, and may come from the fact that throughout her career she was required to defend herself against sexual predators.

By the way, before she became famous, she did a canvas test for the American version of 'In Treatment', for the role that Ayelet Zorer was eventually accepted for.

I wanted her, but it was not up to me - and she was not accepted. "

The innovation versus the original

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Hagai Levy's version provoked a lot of discussion because of the content, dialogues and displays of the game, but in my eyes the most beautiful, impressive and delightful thing is the camera work, signed by the director with photographer Andrei Perek, who as photographer and director signed "Blue Valentine", "Ozark". "The Descendants".

"We wanted to go a few more steps further than Bergman, for the series to take place entirely in the same house, rather than in several arenas of occurrence," Levy says. "This is how the house evolves from chapter to chapter, also as an example of how the family changes. Besides, I wanted everything to be in real time, which required me to use camera movements, not editing. When one of the characters moved from room to room, I wanted the audience to be with her all the time. A second, so the camera always goes after the character. "

"Andre took me to the Matte Museum in New York and showed me paintings by Wilhelm Marshui, who became a major inspiration when it came to using space and colors. The episodes are built a bit like separate films.

"And it's good that way. I think it's a series that requires attention and thought. I'm glad they're watching it once a week, or at most once a day.

A painting by Wilhelm Marshui, who was the inspiration for the series

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A post shared by Vilhelm Hammershøi (@vilhelm_hammershoi_)

"I have a hard time with the thought that you have to bring people to the movies. It's something I don't have to think about on TV."

Levy began his professional career with "Snow in August", a student film that turned unfavorably into a full-length film, was released in 1993 and, like most Israeli cinema at the time, was a resounding failure. Almost every director I have ever met Gonen on his failures and found a way to present them as a success, but Levy is not ashamed to admit failure, and shares a thought he has - to re-edit the film and screen it in a shorter version than it came out almost thirty years ago.

"I have a project in the oven according to the diaries of Etty Hilsom, but is there another place in the market for such films? Not sure. I have a hard time with the thought that you have to bring people to the cinema. It's something on TV I should not think about."

Levy, at the moment, is not in a relationship. "I get divorced once every second, and as the series shows - it takes time to recover from it." He has two children and an amazing Canaanite dog named Luna, and he lives in Tel Aviv and intends to stay there.

"I am connected to my family, nuclear and extended, and there is also the matter of language," Levy explains of his choice.

"The biggest difficulty I had with the project was English. I would write the script, Amy Herzog would translate it and then I would go over the translation. It's a process. In addition, the production and filming are also difficult for me. Shout 'I'm not really just an idiot who stutters. Wait until you hear me in Hebrew and understand that I'm not an idiot.' "Very difficult for the ego. Look, I grew up on Kibbutz Sha'alvim. For me, even the move to Tel Aviv was exile, so move to New York?"

A sequel series?

The option on the table.

From "Pictures from Marriage" (Photo: HBO)

Is there another chance that the couple in the series will be together again?

"Yes. Even after all these years, there is a passion left in them. Full of things happened, but the passion has not disappeared. In fact, the chance may be greater than ever - because now, at last, sexuality has awakened in men as well."

"Absolutely. There's an idea to continue it somehow, and we're rolling it out."

"I thought about it a lot. He changed and softened over the years, and did other things, so it's hard to know. What's for sure: Lib Ullman, who starred in the original series, wrote an amazing letter to Jessica."

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