Working Woman

Israeli director Michal Aviad’s Working Woman deals in blunt fashion with the harsh reality of women’s lives in the workplace—especially young and ambitious mothers like the protagonist, Orna (Liron Ben-Shlush), who struggles along with her husband to provide for their three kids in an up-and-coming section of Tel Aviv. When Orna lands a high-end real estate job selling a line of fashionable apartments, things seem to be looking up. But viewers know that her imposing, swaggering, unhappily married older boss Benny (Menashe Noy) is nothing but trouble. One day he forcibly kisses Orna, who recoils in shock. But she eventually gets over it, and after a while it seems that Benny has successfully suppressed his inappropriate sexual urges. However, gradually we see a change in Benny, and there’s a subtle inevitability in the way he eventually assaults Orna again—this time while on a business trip in Paris. How Orna acts under duress throughout is perfectly believable: it’s not heroic, just human as she finds herself caught in a patriarchal vice grip between a controlling, sexually aggressive boss and a husband who is quick to suspect that she didn’t do enough to reject her boss’s advances. A timely film that makes its powerful points through well-fashioned drama, this is highly recommended. (M. Sandlin)