Cinema Wednesdays - Loris S. Musumeci
«Do rabbis have a say in everything?»
Menashe looks lost. He's walking around his neighborhood without seeming to know where he's going. Yet he's late, as usual. No sooner has he arrived at the kosher where he works, he receives a remark from his superior. Menashe has also been widowed for a year. Custody of his only son, Rieven, has been entrusted to his late wife's brother, until he finds himself a new wife. But he's not keen on getting married. What matters to him is his son. Mercifully, the rabbi allows him to take Rieven home for a week. The father will go to great lengths to prove that he and the child can be happy.
A touching story
Joshua Z. Weinstein has delved into his own Jewishness to give an insight into life in a Jewish neighborhood. If Brooklyn Yiddish perfectly captures the atmosphere of Brooklyn's Hasidic community, it actually offers much more. The story tells of a father's love for his son, which is as banal as it is immense. The father may be clumsy, but the boy has eyes only for him.
The film also exposes the feeling of being apart. Menashe is generally scorned for his status as a widower slow to remarry. What's more, he doesn't take care of his appearance, neglecting to wear a hat and coat. Offbeat, he tries to be accepted as he is, within a rather homogeneous group. The character is simply touching. Despite the tallit katan, black vest, yarmulke and beard, he embodies all those in search of an unspectacular but full existence.
Sublime photography
The photography is a perfect match for the storyline, which makes Brooklyn Yiddish a complete work. The shots have a poetic presence that reveals everything Menashe has in his heart and doesn't dare say. Playing with the sides of the face, the director films scenes in which the camera's position in relation to the character tells of his state of mind. The general shots are no less successful, showing the street surveyed by women pulling behind them a swarm of children, or men walking with their backs straight, black hats overhanging their heads.
The alternation between sharp and blurred images, heightened by camera movements conveying distance or closeness, also contributes to the beauty of the images. At times, it reveals the calm solitude of a Jew, at other times the bustle at the dinner table. shabbat or the swaying of the head in prayer. As for the music, it lets the most beautiful violins resonate, without falling into an excess of melancholy. Fair and temperate, it accompanies Menashe and Rieven's happy journey.
«Menashe, the Torah says, “It is not good for man to be alone.”»
Write to the author : loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © Federica Valabrega for Look Now!
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