Unorthodox [Netflix]

Musefan

Hi,

Has anyone else watched this new series on Netflix? I thought it was beautiful, and an unusual story.

I'd highly recommend it if anyone is looking for a short series to watch!

adrian522

I've watched episode 1, so far so good looks to be really well done.

It's by the writer of Deutschland 83 but obviously completely different.

Lisha

Thought it was amazing, so beautifully shot, so sad, but also so full of hope .
Thought the acting of Este and the 2jounger Jews was spectacular.

Mad_maxx

Two episodes in, very good, very different

The lead actress must surely be less than five feet tall, she is tiny

Musefan

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Two episodes in, very good, very different

The lead actress must surely be less than five feet tall, she is tiny

Yes she is tiny! Great actress. She can very convincingly play a teen!

Mad_maxx

it sort of meandered in the end , first two episodes were much better than the final two

still worth a watch overall

solerina

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Two episodes in, very good, very different

The lead actress must surely be less than five feet tall, she is tiny

She seemed to have very long legs and a very short body.
I loved the series.

Cina

I don't know why there were only four episodes. Feels like it barely got going before it ended.

And they had to rush so much. Like she arrives in Berlin and 3 days later is auditioning for a scholarship in her dream profession and has a group of besties who will apparently follow her to coffee shops because they now know her so well. Ridiculous.

Mad_maxx

Cina wrote: »

I don't know why there were only four episodes. Feels like it barely got going before it ended.

And they had to rush so much. Like she arrives in Berlin and 3 days later is auditioning for a scholarship in her dream profession and has a group of besties who will apparently follow her to coffee shops because they now know her so well. Ridiculous.

Yeah it got silly in the second half, her gang of friends were pure cardboard cut outs too

Zascar

Watched it last night - we only intended to watch one episode but binged all 4 until 1.30am! Gripping and powerful story, the lead actress was fantastic. I was disappointed by the ending though - I don't think it properly tied things up, even a few words saying what happened after maybe mentioning she got her life together with her baby in Germany etc would have been nice. Still highly recommended.

CassieManson

Mr.S wrote: »

Powerful mini series, but ending felt a bit rushed.

One of Us also worth a watch - a Netflix documentary from 2017 on the same topic.

Yes I have watched both, I thought Unorthodox was great but One of Us I found difficult to follow.

Having watched those two on Netflix I was recommended to watch Shtisel. Its set in Israel in the orthodox community and Shira Haas from Unorthodox also features in her younger years. I'm really enjoying it and am starting to understand Yiddish!

There are two seasons and a total of 24 episodes.

mvl

CassieManson wrote: »

Yes I have watched both, I thought Unorthodox was great but One of Us I found difficult to follow.

Having watched those two on Netflix I was recommended to watch Shtisel. Its set in Israel in the orthodox community and Shira Haas from Unorthodox also features in her younger years. I'm really enjoying it and am starting to understand Yiddish!

There are two seasons and a total of 24 episodes.

Was not as impressed by Unorthodox, but do enjoy Shtisel much more (now on second season) <- only looked it up after this mention, so thanks !

urgelgru

I enjoyed Unorthodox to a point; the Berlin storyline was just so rushed and "convenient". Maybe an extra episode or two would have helped. The friends were tedious. It did lead me to find Shtisel too like a couple of other posters and I devoured the whole thing over the bank holiday weekend. It's touching and very funny: "He smokes and he eats"

Even though on the face of it their lives are so different to ours, you just get sucked into the family drama within ten minutes of the first episode.

cdgalwegian

Cina wrote: »

I don't know why there were only four episodes. Feels like it barely got going before it ended.

And they had to rush so much. Like she arrives in Berlin and 3 days later is auditioning for a scholarship in her dream profession and has a group of besties who will apparently follow her to coffee shops because they now know her so well. Ridiculous.

I'd agree with all of that, though change the 'ridiculous' to maybe ':rolleyes:', and add that despite all that it's well worth the watch. The lead is fantastic, and the portrayal of life in the Hasidic community was very interesting to watch; her escape from that, and her determination not to return to it provided real stakes in the drama.
It could have been excellent, but ended up only 'really good'.

mvl

urgelgru wrote: »

I enjoyed Unorthodox to a point; the Berlin storyline was just so rushed and "convenient". Maybe an extra episode or two would have helped. The friends were tedious. It did lead me to find Shtisel too like a couple of other posters and I devoured the whole thing over the bank holiday weekend. It's touching and very funny: "He smokes and he eats"

Even though on the face of it their lives are so different to ours, you just get sucked into the family drama within ten minutes of the first episode.

For me I think Shtisel is a bit more connected to my heritage: having had an Eastern European childhood, we didn't own many things back then, so can relate to their minimalist living, maybe few generations back; and then there is the beauty of the language, the simplicity of the home cooked food (every time I get to Budapest, I am keen to eat in some of the Jewish restaurants) ...
- actually, I should try to confirm if I don't have any ancestry connections, all too familiar

urgelgru

mvl wrote: »

For me I think Shtisel is a bit more connected to my heritage: having had an Eastern European childhood, we didn't own many things back then, so can relate to their minimalist living, maybe few generations back; and then there is the beauty of the language, the simplicity of the home cooked food (every time I get to Budapest, I am keen to eat in some of the Jewish restaurants) ...
- actually, I should try to confirm if I don't have any ancestry connections, all too familiar

Yes the minimalist lifestyle is is very interesting. Everything is so dialled back. And then occasionally you'll have something jarring like the boyos playing a game on a decent looking laptop in the cafe!

I don't like the look of most of the hot food they cook. I do like middle eastern veggie food and salads. It's just the meat and two veg "stew" like things that make me gak. Watching Shulem slurp soupy food also made me feel a bit queasy.

I must watch that Netflix documentary "One of Us" next.

Kingp35

I enjoyed it, it was well acted and gives a decent insight into that type of lifestyle. It definitely lost it's way a bit in eps 3 & 4.

I was also disappointed to learn that it's wildly inaccurate when I read up on Esther's life after I finished the series.