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YIDDISH THEATER:  A LOVE STORY

Review by Jeannette Catsoulis
THE NEW YORK TIMES

When the Israeli filmmaker Dan Katzir met Zypora Spaisman, the Polish-born “Yiddish diva” and onetime mainstay of the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater (today called the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene), the result was a project he had never planned to make.

Filmed in real time during the freezing winter of 2000, “Yiddish Theater: A Love Story” tracks eight days in the failing life of the Yiddish Public Theater, founded by Ms. Spaisman (who died in 2002) after her separation from the Folksbiene in 1998. But as we watch the dwindling audiences and desperate fund-raising attempts, the survival of the theater becomes the gateway to a passionate argument for the survival of an entire culture.

Peopled by famous names from the Yiddish stage — Felix Fibich, Seymour Rexite — the film is by turns cranky, funny, wistful and resolute. Jack Lebewohl, the owner of the original Second Avenue Deli, proudly shows off the Yiddish Walk of Fame, while the salty Mr. Rexite (who also died in 2002) rushes us through the invaluable archive of the Hebrew Actors Union. Hoping for more discourse, his director encouragingly mentions the 1,000-year history of the Yiddish language. “I know that; I wasn’t there at the time,” is Mr. Rexite’s priceless response.

That language, and its abandonment, is the melancholy heart of “Yiddish Theater,” lending the film direction and depth of purpose. When asked why so many Jews voluntarily relinquished it, the author Nahma Sandrow is clear: “It was the language of the dead.” Ms. Spaisman would have furiously disagreed.

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GENRE:  Documentary
WRITTEN BY:  Dan Katzir, Ravit Markus
DIRECTED BY:  Dan Katzir
RELEASED:  November 21, 2007
RUNNING TIME:  90 Minutes, Color
ORIGIN:  USA
LANGUAGE:  English, Yiddish

FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY
JULY 18-19-20
3:30, 5:30, 7:30

Already a smash in its native Italy, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, which was presented at this year’s Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, best known as screenwriters of the highly acclaimed “The Best of Youth.”

Set in a small Italian town in the 60’s and 70’s, the film tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world – but in completely different ways. The elder, Manrico (Riccardo Scarmaccio), is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio, (Elio Germano) the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarizing and paralyzing politics of those turbulent times and, the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother’s girlfriend, Francesca (Diane Fleri) who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico’s increasingly dangerous ideas.

An intensely cinematic and incredibly incisive film about the dreams and disillusionments of the 60’s and 70’s, MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD is set in the exact era of the groundbreaking early classics of Bernardo Bertolucci and Marco Bellochio. Not only does Luchetti pay explicit homage to those films – “Before the Revolution,” “Fist in the Pocket,” and “China is Near” – he comes very close to matching their beauty, intelligence, and youthful exuberance.