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A Price Above Rubies

Name: A Price Above Rubies
Director: Boaz Yakin
Released: 1998
Duration: 117 min

Representation Score

4.4/10

Fair

1998

Director

Boaz Yakin

Runtime

117 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

A Price Above Rubies offers a sophisticated look at the tension between religious devotion and personal autonomy. By centering a Hasidic Jewish woman's struggle for self-actualization, the film provides a meaningful departure from mainstream, homogeneous storytelling. The film excels in its cultural specificity and its willingness to challenge traditional gender hierarchies. It treats the protagonist's desire for more than a domestic life as a valid search for identity rather than a moral failing. However, the narrative remains strictly within traditional frameworks regarding sexuality. The absence of LGBTQ+ representation and disability visibility limits the scope of its social exploration.

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Category Breakdown

Does A Price Above Rubies have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses entirely on heterosexual and cisgender relationships, with no LGBTQ+ characters or explorations of non-traditional gender identities.

How does A Price Above Rubies portray gender?

Good

The story centers on Shira's significant role in driving the narrative and her dissatisfaction with traditional domestic roles. It challenges the conventional portrayal of masculine leadership by highlighting the emotional isolation within such roles.

How racially and ethnically diverse is A Price Above Rubies?

Good

The narrative provides a nuanced portrayal of the Hasidic Jewish experience in Brooklyn. This specific cultural immersion disrupts the convention of depicting homogeneous Western families as the norm.

How does A Price Above Rubies represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques religious institutions by weighing communal law against individual conscience. It frames the protagonist's search for identity as a struggle against repressive social structures.

Does A Price Above Rubies include disability representation?

Minimal

There are no significant depictions of visible or invisible disabilities in the film.

Present on Screen

Provides a nuanced, actively leading portrayal of the Hasidic Jewish community.
Challenges traditional gender roles by centering female intellectual and emotional ability to act.
Offers a sophisticated critique of institutional authority and religious rigidity.

Limited or Absent

Lacks any representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-traditional gender characters.
Contains no visible or invisible depictions of disability.

Official Synopsis

About a young woman who is married to a devout Jew and the problems that trouble their marriage because of the woman wanting something more out of her life.

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