Oy Vey! You mean you haven't seen.....
May 18 '01 (Updated Feb 12 '03)
The Bottom Line Everybody needs a little Jewish in their life. :)
There are a lot of movies that address Jewish heritage and themes. Before I address some of my favorites, I'd like to mention some that happily haven't been made. (*Note* If you don't know a little Yiddush or Hebrew, the following won't be funny.)
5 Jewish Movies that Should Never Be Made
#1 Gonif with the Wind - a Jewish thief travels through the Southern U.S. during the Civil War.
#2 Ch'rainman - Dustin Hoffman is a savant maker of horseradish.
#3 The Good, The Chabad and the Ugly - A Hassidic Gunslinger, a kugel western
#4 You've Got Mohel - The story of a ritual circumciser in the computer age
#5 The Goy Luck Club - The relationships between Jewish women and their mothers and mother-in-laws.
Now, to the movies I'm glad they made.
There are many movies with Jewish themes. Rather than listing them in order of preference, I've decided to choose 11 films that represent different themes or genres in Jewish life. I know the category is ten, but I just couldn't narrow it down more.
Holocaust movies:
Jews in Hiding:
There are many movies about people hiding from Nazis. The best of these is the (1)Diary of Anne Frank starring Patty Duke. It is based on the story of a real Jewish girl. She, her family and several others are hidden by a Dutch family in a secret room behind a bookcase. As they evade the Nazis, she comes of age.
Jews Going to/In the Concentration Camps:
This is probably the largest category of Holocaust movies. My favorite in this category is (2) Life Is Beautiful. This story tells of a father (played by Roberto Bernini) who tries to protect his son from the evils that are going on in the concentration camp by making everything that happens into a game. The prize for winning the game, he tells his son, is a tank. When the camp is finally liberated, the boy sees the tank as his prize. The movie is entirely unrealistic, but it is beautiful and touching.
Jews Revolting Against the System:
This category contains the least films. One worth noting is (3)Escape from Sobibor. It tells the story of the mass escape from the Sobibor concentration camp. Not every Jew went like a lamb to the slaughter. While many others helped Jews to escape, some Jews fought for their lives themselves. This tells such a story and a true one. It is important that people studying the Holocaust know that not everyone went without resistance. Some were able to fight back. If ever such a situation arises again, people need to know that they can fight.
Other movies of note: While not in my "Top 10" other Holocaust movies of note must include: Schindler's List, Cabaret, Les Miserables (The French 1995 version) which tells the story of a man reading the Hugo novel and seeing how others relate to it (all this set in France during the time of the German occupation), and The Hiding Place, the story of the TenBoom sisters who hid Jews. It is a movie Christians will particularly appreciate.
Though not dealing with Jews, the movie Bent addresses the plight of homosexual men in the camps. We must remember that not only six million Jews died in the Holocaust, but also five million others.
The second genre deals with the aftermath of the Holocaust. I have two movies that are particular standouts here. The first is (4) Enemies: A Love Story. In this movie a man believes his first wife was killed in the Holocaust. He comes to the United States and remarries. Unsatisfied with that marriage, he also takes a mistress. At this point, his first wife shows up alive. The man and his families must figure out how to make things work.
The second movie from this genre that I love is (5)The Music Box. Jessica Lange plays the daughter of a man accused of war crimes. She must try to find the truth for herself and come to terms with what her father may or may not have done. It is not until the very end that we know the whole truth. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat the first time I watched it and still provides an intensity that makes me long to watch it again.
My next genre of note deals with Jews immigrating to America. Jews have been in America for a long time, but there have been notable immigrations early in the last century and just around World War II - both before and after. My favorite coming to America story is (6)An American Tail. An American Tail tells the story of the Mouskowitz family's arrival in New York. Separated from their son before arriving at Ellis Island, they must cope with the reality of their new home - including the fact that cats exist here, too. From a world in which all Jews were the same into a world in which everyone is different, the family adjusts and finally thrives. The music is good and the story is sweet.
Another of my favorite movies comes from this genre. It is (7)The Frisco Kid starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. Gene Wilder plays a Polish rabbi sent to a congregation in San Francisco. An arranged marriage has been set up for him. He is also bringing a Torah (a scroll with the Five Books of Moses) to the congregation. He travels across the United States in the company of gunfighter Harrison Ford. The Jews here are treated respectfully. The Native Americans are not stereotypical either. The rabbi who has to shoot a man to save his own life must then struggle with what he has done.
Another important genre deal with how various Jews get along. These movies generally fall into one of two categories. The first category is how various generations deal with changing traditions. The second category deals with how Jews with different practices (Conservative/Reform/Orthodox, Ashkenazik/Sephardi) deal with their differences.
In the first category, my favorite is a video called (8)Gefilte Fish. In it, three women of successive generations demonstrate for the camera how they each prepare gefilte fish. The first generation uses several varieties of fish and chops by hand. The middle generation uses two varieties of fish and chops mechanically. The latest generation uses fish from a jar. This video is very funny and says much about the meaning of tradition and how things change.There is no judgement about who is right or wrong. There is only observation about what is happening.
In the second category, my favorite movie is (9)The Chosen. The story is based on Chaim Potok's novel. It talks about two boys. The first boy is the son of the rabbi in the local Hassidic community. There is an expectation that he will go on and follow in his father's footsteps. The other boy is the son of a conservative Jew and radical Zionist. The time is before the founding of the state of Israel. The two boys become friends and challenge one another's ideals. This movie gives a wonderful insight into how differntly Jews can live.
Other movies of note in these categories include Fiddler on the Roof and the Jazz Singer (I liek the 1953 version with Danny Thomas, but ther 1929 version with Al Jolson and the 1980 version with Neil Diamond are also good.)
The next important genre of Jewish movies is the difficulty in facing anti-semitism. My favorite of these is (10)Driving Miss Daisy. My only concern in including it here is that the Jewish theme is only somewhat itterated here. In the movie, Jessica Tandy plays Miss Daisy, a retired school teacher, and Morgan Freeman plays her driver. The movie centers around their relationship. The only time that the Jewish element really comes out is when they are going to the synagogue and it is bombed before they get there.
I know I'm going for a #11 here, but I think it's important to address the last genre which is films about Israel's liberation and fight for freedom. The best of these, for my money, is Exodus directed by Otto Preminger. The movie tells the story of a resistance fighter played by Paul Newman who rescues 600 people from detention camps and thus sparks the birth of a new nation.
Hollywood and the movie business was largely founded by Jews who hid the fact. Today, however, there are many good films with different religious and ethnic tradtions being respected. The variety of films with Jewish themes is on the increase. It is getting harder and harder to choose just ten from the quality films that have been made.
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If you'd like to read some of my reviews of Jewish music or films, you can find them by following the links below:
Rebbe Soul – A Fringe of Blue
Gefilte Fish: The Movie
The Frisco Kid
Goodbye New York
Kippur
The Governess
Into the Arms of Strangers: Tales from the Kindertransport
Two Live Jews: Kosher As They Wanna Be
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