All this talk of movies...

[simchat_torah]

Name one of your favorite Jewish films and one that you want to see but haven't yet.

Movie I've seen:

One of my all time favorites has got to be Life Is Beautiful. Robert Benigni is a modern day Charlie Chaplinesque actor who delivers his screentime with emotion and simplicity. The movie centers around Benigni and his son as they are taken away to a Jewish concentration camp during WW2 (well, only the second half of the movie... the first half is pretty much a beautiful love story between him and his wife to be). To keep his son from the horrors of what is taking place around them, he tells his son it is all a game. Benigni allows you to feel the true despair of the prison camp through humor. Sounds offensive, but it is an amazingly beautiful movie.

Roberto Benigni co-wrote, directed and stars in this comedy-drama.

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

btw, its in Italian.
(unfortunately, I can't find a good download for the trailer, most seem to be borked)


Movie I'd like to see:

Ushpizin
(official site: http://www.ushpizin.com)

As the festive Jewish holiday of Succoth approaches, big-hearted Moshe Bellanga, (Shuli Rand) a devoutly religious man, and his wife, Malli (Mechal Bat Sheva Rand), find themselves childless, broke and unable to purchase the necessary religious objects to appropriately observe the holiday. When Moshe and Malli receive an anonymous gift of $1,000 from a local charity, they interpret it as a blessing and use it purchase the holy items and build the Succah (holiday dwelling) for their rituals. Meanwhile, just as the holiday begins, a dark secret from Moshe's past is revealed as two of his former associates escape from prison and come to Moshe's home - as they know it is considered a blessing to host guests during the holiday of Succoth and will not be turned away. The two outlaws begin to take advantage of Moshe's hospitality - drinking, smoking and playing loud music in his home, and they begin to question his new found faith and allude to his violent past. After fabricating a story to rid themselves of their unruly houseguests, Moshe and Malli eventually come to see the treatment of their less-than-holy Ushpizin as a test of love and faith.

How 'bout you?

 

[Wags]

I loved Life is Beautiful! Normally I hate dealing with subtitles, but by the end of the movie I hardly even noticed them and I swear I could understand Italian.

I also like The Pianist.

Roman Polanski's THE PIANIST is based on the memoirs of the talented pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrian Brody), a Polish Jew, who miraculously survived World War II. The first half of the film transports viewers to 1939 Poland, and brings it to life clearly and believably. Szpilman is a tall, handsome, winsome man who is revered for his piano performances on public radio. He lives with his family--an intelligent, loving, and spirited bunch--in an upscale flat in central Warsaw. Bombings have begun to torment the citizens of Warsaw, and step by step, the Nazis infiltrate, the Jews are branded and set apart from their neighbors, imprisoned in a ghetto, and slowly exterminated. The story is told through Szpilman's eyes, and thus carries as much confusion and fear as disgust and torment. Polanski paints Warsaw in bleak shades of gray and black, expressing the helplessness of the Jewish people and the cruelty of the Nazis with captivating photography. In the second half of the film, which takes place in the early 1940s, Szpilman is alone, having managed to avoid the trains to the death camps. His struggle to survive, with some help from non-Jews but mostly his own will to thrive, takes place in long, silent, languid stretches filled with the imagined piano music that inspires Szpilman to live. In a climactic scene of immense beauty and spine-tingling tension, Szpilman must actually perform for a German soldier who is inexplicably patrolling the near-deserted and utterly dilapidated Warsaw ghetto. THE PIANIST, in the subtlety of its sublime and heartbreaking tale, is carried by the intensely moving performance of Brody, whose transformation is truly unforgettable.

 

[stone]

Is Woody Allen jewish?

 

[P_G]

Is Woody Allen jewish?

Is the Pope Catholic?

PG

 

[Jezzy]

I agree about The Pianist. Polanski did a great job on that.

 

[stone]

I haven't seen or heard of any of these new movies, but i do enjoy Woody Allen films.

 

[Wags]

I haven't seen or heard of any of these new movies, but i do enjoy Woody Allen films.

Life is Beautiful & The Pianist aren't new - they've been out for several years and should be available for rent/purchase...

 

[simchat_torah]

nor are they Woody Allen flicks.

 

[Tishri1]

Has anyone seen "The Devil's Arithmetic" WOW....

[SIZE=+1]"This book/movie is about a Jewish teenager who--much like me at that age--hated the idea of having to remember so much Jewish history and ritual. At a family seder, she opens the door to Elijah and finds herself whirled back in time to a Polish Jewish shtetl in the 1940s. There, though she alone understands what will happen to the villagers, she is taken with them to a concentration camp. This is a story of the quiet heroism in the camps and why we must bear witness to history."


[/SIZE]There is even a homeschool packet for those older kids who read the book and can use it for a school assignment

http://www.enotes.com/devils-arithmetic-lesson/72167

 

[Mirelys]

Life Is Beautiful and the Pianist have already been mentioned so...
I guess all I can add is Yentl. I LOVE that movie

 

[insaneinthebrain]

Has anyone seen "The Devil's Arithmetic" WOW....

[SIZE=+1]"This book/movie is about a Jewish teenager who--much like me at that age--hated the idea of having to remember so much Jewish history and ritual. At a family seder, she opens the door to Elijah and finds herself whirled back in time to a Polish Jewish shtetl in the 1940s. There, though she alone understands what will happen to the villagers, she is taken with them to a concentration camp. This is a story of the quiet heroism in the camps and why we must bear witness to history."


[/SIZE]There is even a homeschool packet for those older kids who read the book and can use it for a school assignment

http://www.enotes.com/devils-arithmetic-lesson/72167

I just added this to my Netflix queue, so you better be right about it. *shakes fist*














(just kidding )

 

[Talmidah]

I just asked my daughter Chanah about Devil's Arithmetic about and she said "Oh! That movie is horrible! It is sooooo different from the book. People should read the book and not waste their time with the movie!"

 

[Tishri1]

I just added this to my Netflix queue, so you better be right about it. *shakes fist*














(just kidding )

you will need kleenex

let me know when you get it I have it in my Queue too!

 

[plum]

I can't wait to see Ushpizin! It was only showing in one theater 2 hours from me. So when it hits DVD... woo!

Am I lame for loving Fiddler on the Roof?

Life is BEautiful is one of the best movies I have ever seen. I adore it!

 

[Torah]

Devil's Arithmetic Have this on and is very good.
"Miracle at morcanx" This is about
Three Jewish kids trying to get out of Nazi held land and end up at a Catholics school for a short time. The ending is good. & a Great Chanukah story. Another movie I give a thumps up to is “The next Voice you hear” It’s about a family back in the 30's with every day life's troubles when one night on the radio [BT Before Television] G-d speaks to the world and is going to speak each night for 7 days. With “James Whitmore” & Nance Davis – [to become “Nance Regain”]

PS. All books are better than a movie. But try to tell a kid that. lol

 

[Torah]

simchat_torah
Life Is Beautiful is a very good movie. “It’s in Italian”? I bought it on a discount rack at a local move rental for $3.00 and it’s in English.

 

[Torah]

“Munich” [sorry for spelling] by Spielberg was very graphic and nasty, to much sex. His point that believe he was trying to get across was you send hit men to kill us, we send hit men to kill you. And the turmoil in this hit mans life. I'm sorry I saw it. But that's just "me".

 

[simchat_torah]

simchat_torah
Life Is Beautiful is a very good movie. “It’s in Italian”? I bought it on a discount rack at a local move rental for $3.00 and it’s in English.

Yup, its an Italian movie. I've seen the English version floating around, but the dubs are so horrible I reccomend staying away from it and just getting the normal subtitled version.

 

[BrEnDiNo99]

shinders list was also a really great movie

 

[simchat_torah]

“Munich” [sorry for spelling] by Spielberg was very graphic and nasty, to much sex. His point that believe he was trying to get across was you send hit men to kill us, we send hit men to kill you. And the turmoil in this hit mans life. I'm sorry I saw it. But that's just "me".

I believe the movie actually had two main pionts:

1) Murder is never justified.

and more importantly-

2) "Innocent" will always be hurt by murder.

While the group of Jews who were sent out to vindicate the slain Israelis tried desperately to keep safe anyone safe who was not on their list, others were always hurt. Whether it be physically or emotionally.

The Jews would debate Rabbinic commentary, "Is this murder justified?" They would go back and forth. They would also take careful note of who was being affected by these revenge killings. Family members, innocent bystanders, etc.

It is a very difficult movie to swallow, and definately has some language, violence, and sex scenes that are not intended for the younger audience. However, its message is deep and profound for those who can stomach its contents.

-Yafet