Jewish Heritage

Life Is Beautiful

Italy's rubber-faced funnyman Roberto Benigni accomplishes the impossible in his World War II comedy Life Is Beautiful: he shapes a simultaneously hilarious and haunting comedy out of the tragedy of the Holocaust. An international sensation and the most successful foreign language film in U.S. history, the picture also earned director-cowriter-star Benigni Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor. He plays the Jewish country boy Guido, a madcap romantic in Mussolini's Italy who wins the heart of his sweetheart (Benigni's real-life sweetie, Nicoletta Braschi) and raises a darling son (the adorable Giorgio Cantarini) in the shadow of fascism. When the Nazis ship the men off to a concentration camp in the waning days of the war, Guido is determined to shelter his son from the evils around them and convinces him they're in an elaborate contest to win (of all things) a tank. Guido tirelessly maintains the ruse with comic ingenuity, even as the horrors escalate and the camp's population continues to dwindle--all the more impetus to keep his son safe, secure, and, most of all, hidden. Benigni walks a fine line mining comedy from tragedy and his efforts are pure fantasy--he accomplishes feats no man could realistically pull off--both of which have drawn fire from a few critics. Yet for all its wacky humor and inventive gags, Life Is Beautiful is a moving and poignant tale of one father's sacrifice to save not just his young son's life but his innocence in the face of one of the most evil acts ever perpetrated by the human race. --Sean Axmaker

An inspired motion picture masterpiece, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL was nominated for 7 Academy Awards(R) -- winning 3 Oscars, including one for Best Actor Robert Benigni. In this extraordinary tale, Guido (Benigni) -- a charming but bumbling waiter who's gifted with a colorful imagination and an irresistible sense of humor -- has won the heart of the woman he loves and created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II ... and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate! Honored with an overwhelming level of critical acclaim, this truly exceptional, utterly unique achievement will lift your spirits and capture your heart!

Sunshine

Although Sunshine was made by a Hungarian, István Szabó, and deals with the history of Hungary as refracted through three generations of a Jewish-Hungarian family, you might be more inclined to give it three hours of your own life if you approach it as a David Lean movie in spirit. It is an English-language picture, and Maurice Jarre's music recalls his score for Doctor Zhivago. Szabó emulates Lean's intimate-epic style of merging the sweep of history with the crystalline detailing of individual lives, so that the shape of destiny is glimpsed through personal moments that feel at once evanescent and eternal. His lighting cameraman, Lajos Koltai, is one of the handful of cinematographers equal to capturing these moments in lapidary images--cinematic sunshine of the highest order.

"Sunshine" is a literal translation of Sonnenschein, the family name of the central characters. And "destiny" is one meaning of Sors, the name three Sonnenschein offspring choose for themselves to better assimilate as subjects of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Two are brothers, Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes) and Gustave (James Frain); their sister (by adoption) Valerie (Jennifer Ehle) is really their cousin. Both men love her, and Ignatz rocks the ultratraditional family by taking her as his wife. Nevertheless, the Sonnenscheins and the Sors enter upon the 20th century in loving solidarity, grateful to live under a liberal and tolerant regime. That's all swept away by the Great War, the rise of Nazism, and its replacement, the new fascism of Stalinist Communism. Valerie survives them all--though she's played later on by Rosemary Harris, Ehle's own mother. For his part--or parts--Ralph Fiennes goes on to embody two later generations of Sonnenschein/Sors men, the proudly patriotic Adam and his son, the rudderless Ivan, whose guilt over being a compliant prisoner at Auschwitz leads him to buy into the passionate puritanism of the Stalinist purges. Fiennes rises to the awesome challenge of creating three utterly distinct characters who all share the same congenital weaknesses and aching potential for greatness.

This is a film of considerable beauty and sometimes shattering power. Even three hours is not enough to do justice to all the characters, all the wrenching turnarounds of history and political allegiance and rectitude. But the film is never less than gripping, and as an essay on "family values," it's well-nigh definitive. --Richard T. Jameson

The Governess

Minnie Driver stars as an impoverished Jewish woman, Mary, living in an emphatically anti-Semitic England in the mid-19th century. Following the murder of her beloved father--who leaves his survivors strapped with his debts--she camouflages her identity as a Protestant of Italian descent and takes a job as governess to an unorthodox Scottish family. In this film by Sandra Goldbacher, sundry conventions from Victorian novels mix with a contemporary, feminist take on Mary's subsequent adventures. Mary asserts, with some effort, her authority over her willful charge (Florence Hoath); she dodges the insults of a vaguely ghoulish matriarch (Harriet Walter); and she becomes an aide, confidante, and lover to the man of the house (Tom Wilkinson), a naturalist dabbling with early experiments in photography. Goldbacher fails to make it all feel as fully realized as it could be (much of the detail and soul of Mary's life in London is too telescoped and impressionistic to sink in). But the film's middle section, in which the heroine's complicity with Wilkinson's married character engages her keen intelligence as well as her untapped sensuality, is deeply felt. It's nice to see Driver prove she can carry a film, though the dreamy, exotic photography by Ashley Rowe certainly pulls a viewer along as well. --Tom Keogh

Left Luggage

Set in Belgium in the early 70's, Left Luggage is the touching and emotional story of Chaja, a rebellious philosophy student stuggling to come of age. Her relationship with her parents, both concentration camp survivors, is strained and she finds herself unable to accept her Jewish identity. A family friend finds her a job as a nanny for a Hassidic family with 5 children. Joining forces with Mrs. Kalman (Isabella Rossellini) and through her love for the youngest child who doesn't speak, Chaja learns to accept and respect a culture steeped in traditions, and finds the true value of life.

The Garden Of The Finzi Continis

Set in northern Italy's Ferrara community at the outbreak of World War II, this classic film by Vittorio De Sica concerns an old, aristocratic Jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, who maintain their isolated, idyllic ways within the stone walls of their lush estate while Mussolini imprisons Jews outside. The story's central figure, young Giorgio (Lino Capolicchio), is a middle-class Jew who has always found perfect sanctuary within the Finzi-Continis' walls and who is in love with his childhood friend from that family, Micol (Dominique Sanda). Micol, however, is sexually restless and fit to burst for want of experiences impossible under government oppression. As Giorgio suffers his estrangement from her, De Sica traces the disintegration of a lost and beautiful way of life, slowly turning his focus from the privileged refuge of tennis courts and private libraries to police barriers and rooms where Jews await transport to concentration camps. This powerful work of memory tragically captures a loss of innocence on both the most personal and historical stages. --Tom Keogh

The story of a wealthy Jewish family living in fascist Italy in 1938. A portrayal of how the Jews were stripped of possessions, dignity and freedom.
Genre: Foreign Film - Italian
Rating: R
Release Date: 19-JUN-2001
Media Type: DVD

Kadosh

Solomon & Gaenor

Rising Welsh star Ioan Gruffud (Titanic, Horatio Hornblower) stars as Solomon to Nia Robert's Gaenor in director Paul Morrison's Oscar®-nominated tale of star-crossed lovers living in the wrong place (Wales) at the wrong time (1911). Solomon is a Jewish packman who travels door to door selling fabric from his family's shop to the locals. It is on one such occasion that he meets Gaenor, the soft-spoken daughter of a miner. The attraction is mutual, but he conceals his true identity from her. A few visits (and one red dress) later, and Gaenor has fallen in love with the kindly "Sam" and has even introduced him to her family. But the more he resists her attempts to meet his family, the more she becomes convinced that hers is right and that his intentions are not honorable. Solomon is just as much in love, but he knows that his family would never accept Gaenor (any more than hers would accept him) if they knew the whole truth.

In the end, it isn't his lies that put their lives in jeopardy, but the fear and intolerance the lies were meant to keep at bay. The message may be heavy handed, but Gruffud and Roberts assay their roles with conviction and skill--a portion of his dialogue is in Yiddish and hers in Welsh. While they are together, Solomon and Gaenor speak the same language. English? Yes, but more importantly, the language that knows no borders--love. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

The Last Metro

François Truffaut again tackles the elusive nature of creativity and the elusive creation in this thoughtful, sumptuous, 1980 film. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar, and a winner of various Césars, The Last Metro is a tale of the theater in occupied France during World War II. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) manages the Theatre Montmarte in the stead of her Jewish husband, director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent). He has purportedly fled France but is really hiding out in the basement of the theater. The one hope to save the Montmarte is a new play starring the dashing Bernard Granger (Gérard Depardieu). The attraction between Marion and Bernard is palpable, and as usual Truffaut creates tension and drama from even the most casual of occurrences. The theme of the director locked away while his lover and his creation are appropriated by others makes for interesting Truffaut study, but first and foremost this is a well-spun romance. --Keith Simanton

The Quarrel

A chance reunion of two Holocost survivors - one a Hasidic Jew, the other a skeptical journalist who has turned his back on religion - leads to a searing probe of good and evil and an ultimate test of faith and redemption. Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Filmographies, weblink

Women

A romantic drama set in the Old City of Jerusalem at the end of the 19th century, WOMEN tells the story of Rebecca (Michal Bat-Adam) who, after 15 years of marriage to Jacob, still finds herself childless. IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

The DVD features include: a souvenir booklet; interactive menus; scene access; filmographies; awards; production notes.