Bitter Honey

Name: Bitter Honey
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Released: October 3, 2014
Duration: 81 min
Rating: 62

2014

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Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: October 3, 2014 | Not Rated

Summary: Bali is world famous as a tourist paradise but for some Balinese women the reality is more troubling. Approximately 10% of Balinese families are polygamous, and men in these unions often take multiple brides without their spouse's consent. Filmed over the course of seven years, Bitter Honey offers the first in-depth exploration of theseBali is world famous as a tourist paradise but for some Balinese women the reality is more troubling. Approximately 10% of Balinese families are polygamous, and men in these unions often take multiple brides without their spouse's consent. Filmed over the course of seven years, Bitter Honey offers the first in-depth exploration of these family's lives. Women from three polygamous families tell their stories of coercion, betrayal, and domestic violence and share their courageous struggle for empowerment and equal rights. [Elemental Productions]… Expand

Director: Robert Lemelson

Genre(s): Drama, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 81 min

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Critic Reviews

Peter Keough

Oct 23, 2014

The small Indonesian island of Bali still evokes images of a tropical paradise where Westerners can escape the discontents of the so-called developed world. Much of that romance lingers in Bitter Honey. Read full review

Sheri Linden

Oct 2, 2014

For Westerners, Lemelson offers an eye-opening look behind Bali's profile as a tourist Shangri-la. The documentary's ultimate value, though, may be in local education. Read full review

Andy Webster

Oct 30, 2014

There is nothing remotely salacious about Bitter Honey, an agonizing documentary examination of polygamy in Bali, Indonesia, from the U.C.L.A. anthropologist Robert Lemelson. There is only vivid evidence of a society that, despite limp efforts at discouraging domestic abuse, remains mired in ancient patriarchy, sanctioning polygamy and, implicitly, often attendant violence. Read full review

John DeFore

Oct 2, 2014

Intelligently assembled by Lemelson, a UCLA anthropologist, it addresses a Westerner's concerns without condescending to its subjects; though a three-family focus is hardly enough to make an authoritative-feeling portrait. Read full review

Michael Nordine

Oct 14, 2014

Lemelson's interviews can be repetitive in their direct staging, but there's inspiration in his conceit of using a shadow-puppet performance set to gamelan music as interludes. Read full review

Stephanie Merry

Nov 6, 2014

It would be nice to know if the troubling images we see are a sweeping problem or just a small glimpse of a minority. Read full review

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