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!

Anne Frank - The Whole Story

The story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who lived in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 5-APR-2005
Media Type: DVD

Anne Frank: The Whole Story delivers exactly what it promises: the incredibly moving complete story of Anne Frank, going beyond what the Jewish teenage girl wrote in her widely read diary. Anne, along with her family and friends of her family, hid in a secret annex behind her father's office in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She dutifully kept a diary, which became a worldwide bestseller when her father published it in the 1950s. The story has been adapted for television and movies before, but this version, which played on ABC television, moves beyond what Anne wrote, meeting up with the Frank family before Anne receives her diary, and following her past the diary's last entries into Auschwitz and Birkenau. Hannah Taylor Gordon is a superb Anne, bringing to life the multifaceted girl, in turns intelligent, dreamy, creative, spoiled, and bratty, a girl like any other except that Anne is a Jew in Nazi-occupied Holland. The only one who outshines Gordon is Ben Kingsley as Anne's father, Otto Frank. His quiet performance is extraordinarily powerful; as he watches his family slip away, it is impossible not to feel his grief. This brave film is difficult in parts to watch--the concentration camp scenes are brutal--but this is a remarkable adaptation of Anne's life, and it is a film to be shared and discussed and remembered. --Jenny Brown

School Ties

Brendan Fraser plays a student attending a wealthy boarding school on a football scholarship in the 1950s. When the other kids find out he's Jewish--a fact he's been hiding--his fortunes and relationships instantly change. The film is pretty much what one would expect with that scenario: a story of bigotry, conflict, the hero trying to hang on. In the end, good intentions are the driving force of the movie, but it is not much more than the sum of its obvious parts. Directed by Dick Wolf, creator of television's Law and Order. --Tom Keogh

Uprising

Originally broadcast in November 2001, this exceptional made-for-television film recalls Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan while forging its own distinct identity. It was the first American film to dramatize the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943, during which an underground collective of Polish Jews dared to defy the Nazis. Hank Azaria leads an all-star cast as resistance leader Mordecai Anielewicz, and the film follows his close-knit collaborators (including David Schwimmer and Leelee Sobieski) and their battle against the Nazi general (Jon Voight) assigned to clear all Jews from Warsaw. The uprising was eventually crushed (some heartbreaking outcomes are listed in the closing credits), but director Jon Avnet expertly maintains a sense of courage and hope amidst the palpable horror of the Warsaw Ghetto. Combining physical and historical accuracy with intimate character details, Uprising is suspenseful without being sensational, thus honoring one of the greatest symbolic victories in all of Jewish history. --Jeff Shannon

After Germany invades Poland in 1939, the Nazis decree that 350,000 Warsaw Jews be forcibly moved into a cordoned area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Idealistic teacher Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria) decides the Jews must rise up against the Nazis and creates the Jewish Fighting Organization (JFO). He tries to secure the support of Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland), the morally conflicted head of the Warsaw Ghetto's Jewish Council, but Adam declines because he knows that any act of resistance will provoke the Germans to retaliate by killing innocent Jews. Determined to mobilize a resistance alone if he has to, Mordechai recruits his friends and covert couriers whose ability to pass as Aryan helps them smuggle in arms and explosives from the Aryan side of the city, building up an arsenal to fight the Nazis.

When the Germans begin deporting 300,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp, the JFO begins acts of resistance that culminate with ghetto fighters firing their first gunshots against the Nazis. When it becomes clear that the JFO is a force to be reckoned with, the German High Command sends in General Stroop (Jon Voight), who is determined to end the uprising in two or three days.

Capturing the horror that unfolds is Fritz Hippler (Cary Elwes), a filmmaker assigned by Hitler's chief propagandist to promote anti-Semitism with a film about Jewish life in the ghetto.

When the Nazis continue to suffer more casualties in their battle with the ghetto fighters, General Stroop decides to raze the ghetto. But even that can't stop the JFO. Forced to go underground into bunkers but energized by their success, the resisters fight on, ultimately holding off the Nazi army longer than the entire country of Poland. They're determined to live with honor--and if need be, die with honor--while lighting the torch for resistance in the occupied territories.

Avalon

Writer-director Barry Levinson is at his best when exploring his native Baltimore during his formative years: the 1950s and 1960s. This film, drawing upon family stories, tells a compelling, amusing tale about an extended group that came to America one by one, each earning enough to bring the next sibling. The new, American-born generation--represented by Aidan Quinn and Kevin Pollak--see a future in that mysterious machine known as the television, even as the older generation, led by Armin Mueller-Stahl, finds its traditions shattering or being put aside. Funny, tragic, and telling, it's a terrific, multifaceted film that ultimately details the breakdown of the oral tradition in the wake of television's burgeoning popularity. --Marshall Fine

Intensely personal and yet universally appealing, AVALON follows immigrant Sam Krichinsky and his extended family as they seek a dream called America in a place called Avalon. From poverty through prosperity, the Krichinsky family faces their changing world with enduring humor and abiding love. Even when squabbling over a failed business or adjusting to a new land, Levinson never fails to find the comedy and immediacy of their immigrant experience. A superb cast, led by Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth Perkins, perfectly captures the vibrant love and laughter of this quintessentially American family. The coming-of-age story of an entire nation, AVALON is a "tapestry of American life so rich and perfect it could hang in a museum."(Rex Reed)

Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition)

This rousing musical, based on the stories of Shalom Aleichem, takes place in pre-revolutionary Russia and centers on the life of Tevye (Topol), a milkman who is trying to keep his family's traditions in place while marrying off his three older daughters. Yet, times are changing and the daughters want to make their own matches, breaking free of many of the constricting customs required of them by Judaism. In the background of these events, Russia is on the brink of revolution and Jews are feeling increasingly unwelcome in their villages. Tevye--who expresses his desire for sameness in the opening number, "Tradition"--is trying to keep everyone, and everything, together. The movie is strongly allegorical--Tevye represents the common man--but it does it dexterously, and the resulting film is a stunning work of art. The music is excellent (it won Oscars for the scoring and the sound), with plenty of familiar songs such as "Sunrise, Sunset" and "If I Were a Rich Man," which you'll be humming long after the movie is over. Isaac Stern's violin--he provides the music for the fiddler on the roof--is hauntingly beautiful. And despite the serious subject matter, the film is quite comedic in parts; it also well deserves the Oscar it won for cinematography. --Jenny Brown

"An outstanding accomplishment in every category" (Boxoffice), this lavishly produced and critically acclaimed screen adaptation of the international stage sensation tells the life-affirming story of Tevye (Topol), a poor milkman whose love, pride and faith help him face the oppression of turn-of-the century czarist Russia. Nominated* for eight Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Picture and Best Director, and featuring such classic songs as "If I Were A Rich Man," "Matchmaker" and "Sunrise, Sunset," Fiddler on the Roof is a universal story of hope, love and acceptancea "stunning, joyful and jubilant" (New York Daily News) musical masterpiece.

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 Bible - Esther

The biblical story of Esther, the Jewish woman who saved her people when they faced annihilation, is told in this production featuring British actress Louise Lombard in the title role and F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai, Esther's cousin and foster father. As a girl living under Persian rule, Esther was essentially kidnapped and taken into the harem of the king, Xerxes. The king, taken by her beauty, made her his queen, and as dramatized in the film, she found herself involved in a delicate balancing act between the ruling Persians and her own Jewish people. While this is a fairly elaborate production with a solid supporting cast, it proceeds at a relaxed pace and never quite takes off dramatically. But it does provide a solid telling of Esther's story, and if considered as something of a docudrama, it's successful. The story is clearly told of how the king's chief minister, Haman, had hoped to see the Jews annihilated, but thanks to Esther's intercession the Jews were able to defend themselves and destroy their enemies (events which are celebrated at the Jewish Feast of Purim). The production does provide much of the period flavor of ancient life, and the major facets of the story and portrayals of the characters coincide with biblical accounts. --Robert J. McNamara

Following the conquest of Babylon the King of Persia gives a banquet for his people at which he requests the presence of his wife Vashti. As she refuses the King's demand Ahasuerus disowns Vashti and goes in search of her replacement. In his harem he meets the young girl Esther who immediately captivates him with her charm and beauty. Unaware of her Jewish heritage King Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther. Esther then reveals to Ahasuerus that she is Jewish and asks him to show her people mercy because of a planned genocide of the Jews by the King's right-hand man Haman. In doing so she saves the lives of many innocent people and paves the way for their return to Jerusalem.System Requirements: Running Time 91 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 031398745525 Manufacturer No: VM7455D

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.

Chariots of Fire (Full Screen Edition)

The come-from-behind winner of the 1981 Oscar for best picture, Chariots of Fire either strikes you as either a cold exercise in mechanical manipulation or as a tale of true determination and inspiration. The heroes are an unlikely pair of young athletes who ran for Great Britain in the 1924 Paris Olympics: devout Protestant Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a divinity student whose running makes him feel closer to God, and Jewish Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a highly competitive Cambridge student who has to surmount the institutional hurdles of class prejudice and anti-Semitism. There's delicious support from Ian Holm (as Abrahams's coach) and John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson as a couple of Cambridge fogies. Vangelis's soaring synthesized score, which seemed to be everywhere in the early 1980s, also won an Oscar. Chariots of Fire was the debut film of British television commercial director Hugh Hudson (Greystoke) and was produced by David Puttnam. --Jim Emerson