Moses’ explanation is interrupted by the frantic whinnying of a horse outside. The cries of their parents can be heard as Moses’ nephew Eleazar questions his uncle about the unleavened bread on the table. Outside the huts of the Hebrew camp, the angel of death is killing the Egyptian firstborns. Moses and the Israelites observe a proto-Passover Seder in Cecil B. Taxi! (1932) – James Cagney speaks Yiddish When the pair find him unconscious in the tub, one of them does a quick appraisal: “circumcised.” As Forward contributing film critic Daniel Witkin noted in his review, this is but one of the film’s phallocentric instances of “wherever you go, there you are.” 109. The marked difference of the Israeli protagonist of Nadav Lapid’s film is noted almost immediately by his new neighbors in Paris. “You’ve forgotten the ghetto, all your fine promises,” she says. His childhood sweetheart, Jessica (Irene Dunne), walks into Felix’s new practice like she’s entering the Land of Oz, baffled by how far he’s come from his principles and shocked when she’s told “he never sees anyone except by appointment.” When she manages to get an audience, she berates him in biblical terms for selling his birthright (a family clinic) for a mess of pottage. Felix Klauber (Ricardo Cortez) has left the old neighborhood to treat Park Avenue hypochondriacs in a swanky office with a battery of receptionists. Symphony of Six Million (1932) – Reclaiming idealsĭr. He is the Jew on display – and, now that he’s outlived his usefulness, he will become the scapegoat. “We don’t know you anymore,” he says, going on to growl that Stavisky’s crimes prove “you should never trust foreigners… refugees… Jews.” As this disavowal proceeds – with a rare film score by Stephen Sondheim – the camera turns around Stavisky, the weight of his outsider status finally dawning on him. Learning the police are searching his Paris apartment and that his grift will soon come undone, Stavisky’s right-hand man, Borelli, doesn’t mince words about their future together. Toward the end of Alain Resnais’ biopic about the infamous Russian-born Jewish conman Serge Alexandre Stavisky (Jean-Paul Belmondo), the well-connected swindler’s associates reveal their true colors. Stavisky (1974) – “We don’t know you anymore” Never underestimate the wisdom of Solomon! (DE) 106. But as the Egyptians begin their westward charge, Solomon’s soldiers raise their polished shields to the rising sun in the east, blinding their opponents and sending them plummeting en masse into a massive chasm in front of the Israeli lines. With his forces severely depleted and outnumbered, Solomon faces what looks like certain defeat. Rebuked by his people, abandoned by his allies, and sold out by his worthless brother Adonijah, Israel’s deposed King Solomon (Yul Brynner) prepares to make his final stand against the advancing Egyptian army. After spending the film lashing out against her community, the moment makes it clear that Danielle is still deeply rooted in her Judaism. But toward the end, when she has a breakdown and knocks a stack of prayer books onto the floor, stunning the roomful of mourners into silence, she finally seems to realize the gravity of the moment, kissing each siddur as she carefully replaces it onto the table. Shiva Baby (2020) – The siddur cascadeĭanielle (Rachel Sennott), spends much of this film’s hour-and-a-half runtime slowly breaking down as she grapples with her impending college graduation, her queerness and her parents’ expectations. The rabbi, with a transistor radio in his ear, is quoting Jefferson Airplane and goes on to list, with Danny’s help, the members of the band – as if Marty Balin and Paul Kantner were Talmudic sages. There, the old, white-bearded rabbi, with an almost inscrutably European accent delivers a koan-like statement on life: “When the truth is found / to be lies / and all the joy within you / dies / don’t you want somebody to love?” It’s a gorgeous bit of old world wisdom – except that it’s not really. Bar mitzvah boy Danny is stoned, but has navigated his rite of passage successfully and, as the movie approaches its bleak climax, he is allowed into old Rabbi Marshak’s inner sanctum.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |