Decade In Review: Best JewFilms of 2000-2009
Operating in JST, we still haven’t released our ‘best of’ series as we reflect upon the last decade. This is the first of several posts in which we will review various aspects of Jewish culture in the past ten years.
Let’s face it: if there’s one thing Jews do, it’s watch films (unless they’re ultra orthodox, in which case they absolutely don’t). If there’s another thing Jews do, it’s criticize. Allow me to indulge in both of these glorious activities. Right now.
We all have our favourite hidden ‘Jew’ moments in films. Whether it’s the chaotic hava naglia scene in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985); when we meet the Royal Tenenbaum’s pet bird Mordechai (2001); the Heveinu Shalom Aleichem scene in Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995); the creepily touchy-feely prison counselor with a golden ‘chai’ dangling from his neck in the opening of the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona (1987), or, of course, the fact that the second instance of music in the first-ever feature-length ‘talkie’ is non other than Kol Nidrei (The Jazz Singer, dir. Alan Crosland, USA, 1927), film is a landfill of subtle references to all things Jewish.
Perhaps my favourite Jew film of all time, the 2009 Academy Award nominated film, A Serious Man, outdoes itself in this sense: instead of a few understated touches in the mise en scène, the film is wall-to-wall Jewish; my immediate reaction upon leaving the theater after having watched it for the first time was, “for whom was this film made??” The answer to this question seemed, curiously, quite obvious, when, after viewing this film several times with a variety of friends, it became clear that the multiple, cryptic Jewish references flew by my non-Jewish friends, leaving them rather flummoxed by their inability to access the critical subtext of this film. Usually however, what I am calling here a ‘Jew film’ reads more accessibly to its general audience. Whatever Jewish element is present in the film is noticeable enough to humour those privy to the joke but also sufficiently subtle to camouflage effortlessly within the rest of the film, thus not disorienting or confusing the general audience.
In our context here, a “Jew film” will be defined as one containing some prominent Jewish element, such as an obviously Jewish character, prominent mention of a Jewish holiday, or other Jewish cultural references. For the sake of this list, I have not listed every Israeli film that has been made over the past ten years. On the level of logistics that would be rather unwieldy; on the level of content, I do not believe that everything Israeli automatically translates into ‘Jewish.’
(I once had a highly awkward argument with Israeli author A.B. Yehoshua about this.) Disagree with me if you must, but I am correct.
Upon reviewing this semi-complete list, I find it rather unsettling that a sizeable chunk of these selections are Holocaust-themed films. That is to say, many of these films are transparent expressions of the Holocaust-as-Jewish-identity theme that has haunted international Jewry for the past 60-some years. One would hope that in the process of healing from the catastrophic events of the mid-20th century, “Jew Film”, while not abandoning the memory of
past horrors, might equally embrace the more vibrant and varied—if sometimes confusing—aspects of 21st century Jewish culture and existence.
Finally, I’d like to thank the Academy*—er, sorry—a handful of good friends who helped me compile this list: Tamar Fox (of myjewishlearning.com), fellow teutophile Sonia Gollance, and former film collaborator Izzy Moskowits.
*(For any Jewish Chicagoans reading this, I am not referring to the high school I attended.)
Raysh’s top ten Jew films of the 21st century:
Winner: A Serious Man / Waltz with Bashir (a tie)
The other eight, in alphabetical order:
Alles Auf Zucker! (dir. Dani Levy, Germany, 2004)
The Bubble (הבועה) (dir. Eytan Fox, Israel, 2006)
Kedma (dir. Amos Gitai, Italy/Israel/France, 2002)
Mary (dir. Abel Ferrara, Italy/France/USA, 2005)
Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran (dir. François Dupeyron, France, 2003)
O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias (dir. Cao Hamburger, Brazil, 2006)
Palindromes (dir. Todd Solondz, USA, 2004)
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (dir. Liam Lynch, USA, 2005)
The collective Jewschool writers’top Jewfilms of the first decade of the 21st century list:
Arranged (dir. Diane Crespo/Stefan C. Schaefer, USA, 2007)
The Believer (dir. Henry Bean, USA, 2001)
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (dir. Larry Charles, USA, 2006)
Everything is Illuminated (dir. Liev Schrieber, USA, 2005)
For Your Consideration (Christopher Guest, USA, 2006)
Keeping the Faith (dir. Edward Norton, USA, 2000)
Keeping Up with the Steins (dir. Scott Marshall, USA, 2006)
Late Marriage (חתונה מאוחרת) (dir. Dover Koshashvili, Israel/France, 2001)
Loving Leah (dir. Jeff Bleckner, USA, 2009)
A Mighty Wind (dir. Christopher Guest, USA, 2003)
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (dir. Peter Sollett, USA, 2008)
The Pianist (dir. Roman Polanski, France/Poland/Germany/UK, 2002)
Trembling Before G-d (dir. Sandi Simcha Dubowski, Israel/France/USA, 2001)
A Serious Man (dir. Ethan and Joel Coen, USA/UK/France, 2009)
Sixty Six (dir. Paul Weiland, UK, 2006)
Ushpizin (האושפיזין) (dir. Giddi Dar, Israel, 2004)
When Do We Eat? (dir. Salvador Litvak, USA, 2005)
(Disclaimer: there are undoubtedly films I have missed here. This is where you come in: feel free to add more in the comments).
And here is every first-decade 21st century (2000-2009) ‘Jew film’ that comes to mind: More »
