Thursday, January 17, 2013

Kol Nidre

    My favorite film so far at the Jewish Film Festival this year is a film that has recently been restored by the Jewish Film Archive called Kol Nidre. 
     For some reason , many of these old films use Yom Kippur as a theme.
     Kol Nidre is about 3 American born Jewish school children in the about late 1920's or early 1930's . Two of the children - the girl and one of the boys are shomer shabbos. The second boy is not. The shomer shabbos boy is the son of a rabbi who follows in his father's footsteps. They grow up. One boy is a sleazy charmer and the other becomes a rabbi. The girl's parents want their daughter to marry the rabbi. She of course runs off with the good for nothing who of course turns out to be a good for nothing.
      The funny thing about the movie is that the child actors in the film speak Yiddish with strong American accents. The adults that play them when they are grown have authentic Eastern European accents.
       This film was made in 1939 which is of great significance. This movie is about assimilation of the young people without demonizing those who remain faithful to their religion. In the end the girl ends up with the handsome rabbi after being heartbroken from her gambling womanizing first husband. Of course the beginning her t'shuvah is when as a  beleaguered young wife  she walks by the shul with her baby on Yom Kippur eve. And the rest is melodrama.
        I love the fact that these old Yiddish films are being restored. They hold a key to a world that so many of us have never seen. It is the world of my grandparents and great grandparents. The world of the Eastern European Jewish immigrant. They were glad to live in the new world but they missed the old world. By the 1940's Jews were already part of the general society so there was not a need for these films. Sure there were holocaust survivors in the years after WWII but they had a different story than these Jews.
          Then again , many Yiddish actors died in the shoah. Two of the actors in the movie Kol Nidre were saved by doing this movie. It took awhile to film it so the actors did not end up returning to Europe as quickly as they had planned to. It was during this time that the war broke out. They were very fortunate to be able to be in New York at that time.
         There is still another film that I plan to see at the Jewish Film Festival. If it ends up being worthwhile I will write about it.                                                                  

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