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Thursday, January 15, 2004 Cine City: All's well that ends poignantlyThe Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film returns with pics packing a punch
By Anthony Allison
That wily old Bard claimed all's well that ends well. But in the case of four films playing in this week's Las Vegas Celebration of Jewish Film, it's not because they end happily that they're must-sees, but the converse. Amen., James' Journey to Jerusalem, Taking Sides and Train of Life have one thing in common: They all have endings that pack a powerful punch. Usually, the trouble with film festivals is fatigue. Most fest programs pack too many great movies into too little time. So that makes the third installment of the Celebration of Jewish Film especially welcome. This year's event, which begins tonight (Jan. 15) at the Suncoast, presents a scaled-down program of just five films. "Instead of another `best of' selection from the world's greatest film festivals, we're going back to more of a traditional formula," says program director Joshua Abbey. Vegas' most indefatigable cine citizen, who co-founded CineVegas in 1998, Abbey (and co-director Betsy Cowan) devised a democratic programming method this year. "Each of the presenting organizations was given seven or eight films to look at, and I let them choose." So, in effect, this is programming by popular demand. (Disclosure: LVCJV also commissioned this writer to moderate the event's Q&A sessions.) The result is an eclectic cinematic quintet that includes two Las Vegas premieres (James' Journey, Taking Sides) and two older films (Amen., Train of Life) whose impressive locations and photography make them worth seeing, in glorious 35mm, back on the big screen. Once again, the event coincides with a festival of Jewish art (Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m., admission $3 or free with film fest ticket) and generally cements the Century Suncoast 16's new status as Vegas' best venue for alternative movie programming. And, Abbey adds, "Just because it's called a Jewish film festival doesn't mean that it's intended for Jewish audiences. It's open to everyone who's interested in Jewish culture, and I really encourage people to come and take advantage of seeing films that they will not be able to see elsewhere."
James' Journey to Jerusalem George W. Bush's announcement of a proposed (non-) amnesty for undocumented immigrants makes this acerbic social satire, about a naive migrant worker in Israel, particularly topical. Documentarian Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's first feature charts the adventures of a young Christian (charismatic South African Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe) whose "pilgrimage" to the holy city is interrupted when he's detained as a potential illegal immigrant. Bailed out by a sleazy manpower agent (Salim Daw), James cheerfully works at menial jobs while, dazzled by the materialism of modern-day Tel Aviv, he learns the rules of the capitalist game. When James transitions from exploited worker to exploitative entrepreneur, conflict inevitably ensues, as this refreshingly cynical film builds toward its bittersweet ending. (Massa'ot James Be'eretz Hakodesh, NR, 87 min., Hebrew, English and Zulu dialogue, with subtitles.) Thur., Jan. 15 7:30 p.m. Tickets available at the door or call Jewish Community Center, 794-0090.
Taking Sides Wilhelm FurtwŠngler, legendary conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, stayed in Germany throughout the Nazi era. Yet although he never joined the Nazi party, "Hitler's favorite conductor" was investigated under the Allies' postwar "de-Nazification" process. In István Szabó's 2001 drama, Harvey Keitel plays a boorish American officer ruthlessly interrogating "the devil's bandleader" (haughty, world-weary Stellan SkarsgŒrd). Based on the play by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist), this somewhat stagy, verbose drama raises intriguing issues about honor, patriotism and whether art and politics can ever be separate. Most telling, however, is the closing, documentary footage of FurtwŠngler shaking hands with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels after a performance. His expression, and the unambiguous gesture that follows, speak volumes about which side the maestro was really on. (NR, 105 min.) Sat., Jan. 17 7:30 p.m. Tickets at door or call Anti-Defamation League, 862-8600.
Train of Life Throughout Radu Mihaileanu's engaging 1998 exodus fable, about a 1941 scheme by the Jewish residents of a central European shtetl to evade the Nazis by faking their own deportation, you'd be forgiven for thinking, "Enough already!" Enough with the film's whimsical mix of French farce, Fiddler on the Roof frolics and its potentially offensive, light-hearted, Life Is Beautiful view of the Holocaust. But stick with Mihaileanu's fantasy, featuring Lionel Abelanski as the not-so-idiotic village idiot who dreams up the plan, and you'll be glad you did. The ending of this rich, evocative film will haunt you for months. (Train de vie, R, 102 min.; French and German dialogue, with subtitles.) Sun., Jan. 18 4:30 p.m. Tickets at door, or call Temple Beth Sholom, 804-1333.
Amen. Powerful though it is, it's not the ending of this melodramatic costume drama that makes it so compelling, but the scene that occurs 20 minutes in. A group of Waffen-SS officers watches impassively as two soldiers empty cans of a powerful disinfectant, Zyklon B, into an opening in the roof of a nondescript building. As the men take turns to peer through a peephole, one of them recoils with shock and revulsion. Based on Rolf Hochhuth's 1963 play The Deputy, Costa-Gavras' 2002 film dramatizes the true story of chemist and SS Lt. Kurt Gerstein (Ulruch Tukur) who, in August 1942, became a firsthand witness to the Nazis' extermination machine when he visited the death camps at Treblinka and Belzec. His efforts to alert an indifferent world, via a Jesuit priest with direct links to the Vatican (a fictionalized, composite character, played by Mathieu Kassovitz), were in vain. In reality, Pope Pius XII didn't speak out about Hitler's National Socialism until May 1945. (NR, 132 min., English, French and Italian dialogue, with subtitles.) Sun., Jan. 18 7 p.m. Tickets at door, or call Congregation Ner Tamid, 733-6292.
Left Luggage Set in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1972, Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé's 1998 directorial debut focuses on Chaja (Laura Fraser), rebellious daughter of Holocaust survivors Marianne SŠgebrecht and Maximilian Schell, who works as a nanny for a Hasidic couple (Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini) and develops a bond with their mute, 4-year-old son (Adam Monty). This well-meaning adaptation of Carl Friedman's novel The Shovel and the Loom, is marred by Edwin de Vries' lackluster script. Neither the radiant Rossellini, nor venerable Chaim Topol, can counteract the turgid dialogue. And a wannabe serious subplot involving an anti-Semitic concierge (David Bradley) is so off-kilter it's laughable. (NR, 100 min., English, Hebrew and Yiddish dialogue, with subtitles.) Sun., Jan. 18 2 p.m. Tickets at door or call Jewish Community Center, 794-0090. |
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