film – From Under the Fig Tree

Paper chase

joselitMarch 9, 2014November 16, 2017Leave a comment

Many of us live in the moment, texting and tweeting away as if there’s no tomorrow. But now and again, the long arm of the past casts a hulking shadow over our contemporary lives, compelling us to reckon with the power of history.

Last Books: Recovering the East European Jewish Past flyer (click to enlarge)

The recent release of the film, “Monuments Men,” is one case in point. Another is the discovery in Munich of a cache of more than a thousand paintings that had been looted from museums and private Jewish homes by the Nazis. Believed to have been lost or destroyed, these valuable artworks have now resurfaced in what some call a triumph of good over evil. A third case in point is “Degenerate Art: The Attack on Modern Art in Nazi Germany, 1937,” a forthcoming exhibition at New York’s Neue Galerie, which provides a context in which to situate the Nazis’ attempts to purge 1930s Germany of modernist art and those who championed it.

And, yes, there’s more. On Tuesday evening, March 25th at 7 p.m., the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, in partnership with GW’s Program in Judaic Studies, will host the Frieda Kobernick Fleischman Lecture in Judaic Studies, whose roster of distinguished speakers over the years has included Pierre Birnbaum, James Loeffler and Alisa Solomon. This year, Jonathan Brent, the executive director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, will do the honors. (To register, please send an email to Washington.amb@msz.gov.pl)

Titled “The Last Books: Recovering the East European Jewish Past,” Mr. Brent’s presentation explores an issue of considerable delicacy: the fate of Jewish books and manuscripts whose readers are no more.

The story he tells -- one of pathos and hope in equal measure -- deserves a wide hearing. I hope you’ll be able to join us for this latest brush with history.

Take two

joselitJuly 23, 2012November 16, 2017Leave a comment

Over the past half century or so, Israel has been associated in the public mind with lots of things, but movie-making has not been among them – at least not until recently. As the Forward observed only last week, that’s about to change. Israel now harbors high hopes of becoming a major production center.

Israel's Ma'ale School of Television, Film and the Arts. Flickr/zeevveez

It’s not the first time. As The New York Times reported way back in May 1960, when Otto Preminger and a crew of 150 actors and technicians descended en masse on Israel to film Exodus, “the experience has immensely stimulated the exalted hopes and plans of many government people and enterprising citizens for the further production of film production here.”

Likened to a “national happening,” the making of the film took the country by storm. Thousands of ordinary citizens eagerly sought out Paul Newman and his co-star Eva Marie Saint for their autographs, took party in a national lottery to serve as extras and consulted their newspapers on a daily basis for information about what scene was being filmed where. Exodus, concluded the Times, was “probably the most publicized entertainment project that has come to this country since its founding.”

In the spotlight – and for reasons having to do with culture rather than geopolitics – Israel warmed to the idea of becoming an alternative to Hollywood. After all, it had much in common with the West Coast, from the availability of dramatic and varied scenery to the prospect of generous financial incentives. These factors, coupled with a reputation for being “the most avid moviegoing nation in the world,” made Israel a natural.

While it’s taken 40 biblical years – and then some – for this possibility to bear fruit, how heartening to see that Israel, someday soon, may be known for its movie magic.

Reeling

joselitFebruary 5, 2012November 16, 2017Leave a comment

Most days, my students leave class in high spirits, noisily pushing back their chairs and chatting away animatedly as they head off to another class, a cup of coffee or a nap. Not this time.

After an hour and a half spent watching the infamous Jud Suss, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed feature films the Nazis ever produced, they left the room utterly subdued, even drained.

Under the skillful direction of Veit Harlan, the fall-from-grace of an 18th century German Jewish financier was transformed into an electrifying movie, a modern cautionary tale. In Harlan’s hands, History became grist for the mill of Nazi propaganda and the demonizing of the latter-day Jew.

As we sat in Room 202, Rome Hall, in 2012, History cast a long shadow on us, too.

Later that day, the class gathered once again, this time to watch a documentary about Veit Harlan himself, which is succinctly and effectively titled Harlan. Like the subject of his 1940 film, the director also fell from grace: The Allies put him on trial for “crimes against humanity.” Although eventually acquitted of the charges, Harlan never quite regained his footing. ...continue reading "Reeling"