Saturday, January 20, 2024

Delegation (2023) New York Jewish Film Festival


While on a school trip to the Holocaust sites before graduation three friends find their relationship under pressure as past and present collide in the wake of their soon becoming full-fledged adults.

I’m kind of uncertain what I feel about Delegation. It’s not that the film is bad, more that the mix of a coming of age drama set on a trip to holocaust sites makes for an odd viewing experience. While I know this sort of thing happens in real life all the time as school groups visit the sites, seeing it played out on the big screen is odd to me since it has been beaten into us that the  sites are to be treated with reverence. And I should say the subject of the Holocaust is handled reverentially.  It’s simply that that we are watching teen angst play out in Poland.

On it’s own terms Delegation is a good look at a bunch of kids growing up. The cast is excellent and they sell everything that is going on.  The mix of genres is something that Israeli film have always managed to do well going back to the long running Lemon Popsicle series in the 1970’s. Its films like this that truly make you understand what bittersweet means.

Worth a look.

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