Steve takes on Peshmerga (2016)

What if a philosopher made a war documentary? Bernard-Henri Levy has done just that and the result is Peshmerga about the Iraqi Kurdish forces fighting ISIS in Iraq.

To be honest  Levy has made at least one other war doc, which I'm told is overly pretentious. Peshmerga does suffer from it's director's overly self indulgent navel gazing but at the same time the film does have an effect on it's audience.

The effect is due entirely to the you are there shooting of the film. Beginning with a POV shot of two men running in the desert which takes a sudden turn when one is blown up Peshmerga grabs it's audience by the throat and never lets you go.

I suspect at this point I should warn you that there are images in this film which will bother many. We see the war dead and some footage of the nastiness inflicted on people by ISIS. We see people die unpleasant deaths.

What makes the film stand out, and to some degree lessens the impact of the story is Levy's purple narration. Taking an intellectual stance that kind of puts him outside of the events in the film Levy spins the film in some intriguing ways that make you engage with the film with you brain and not just your gut. At the same time because some of the musings sound overly intellectual some of the connections to the heart are severed and we never completely engage on an emotional level. The upshot of which is that some of the raw visceral power that should cause us to act or react on what we are seeing. instead we look at the tale and nod to ourselves and say - oh isn't that terrible before moving on.

Of course that doesn't prevent the film from hanging around in your brain for several days forcing you to ponder it for a long time after.

MARIE CURIE THE COURAGE OF SCIENCE (2016) New York Jewish Film Festival 2017

Biography of Marie Curie the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences is an odd duck film. Very mannered and deliberately done the film strives very much to be an art film.Filmed at times to be a kind of documentary

The film has a very odd feel, due I think in large part to the cameras limited movement and choice of angles which kind of shackle us to a very deliberate and limited point of view, I never had a sense of being in a real place with real people. It felt more like a filmed stage play or theatrical experience where the audience has a limited ability to see the world of the action. The result was I never really connected with what was happening on the screen.

The film plays January 24th

Peshmerga (2016) New York Jewish Film Festival 2017

If a studio ever wanted to distribute Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Peshmerga in America, they would just have to release the first two minutes as a trailer. In itself, it’s one of the most harrowing and striking sequences I’ve seen in a documentary in years. A single soldier of the Peshmerga—the military force controlling Iraqi Kurdistan who, along with Syrian Kurds, were the only troops facing ISIS in head-to-head combat—races up a hill to a fortification at the top. A man off-camera yells after him, telling him to be careful. Suddenly, the soldier vanishes in a puff of smoke as a mortar round makes a direct hit. It looks like a jump cut from one of Georges Méliès’ fantasies: he’s there one frame, a cloud of debris the next. But miraculously, the soldier comes crawling from the wreckage, his clothes partially blown off, his head caked in blood. He stands, walks a few yards, collapses on the ground. Before he loses consciousness, he yells in defiance “Long live Kurdistan!”

 If they played up the fact that the Peshmerga are in large part responsible for the gains made against ISIS—which they refer to as Daesh, a term despised by the terrorist Islamic militants—a studio could probably put a lot of butts in seats. Much of the footage is savagely thrilling. During his six months spent on the front lines of the fight, Lévy gives us many stunning sequences of combat, hope, loss, and tragedy. More than once his crew gets bogged down in actual firefights. In one incident, one of his cameramen was almost killed after the jeep he was traveling in hit a mine. The blast immediately killed three Peshmerga soldiers, threw the cameraman from the jeep, and nearly ripped his left arm off. And, of course, Lévy shows us the cameraman’s recovered footage of the incident. But then, much of the footage isn’t for the squeamish: in addition to including graphic footage of Daesh executing civilians, Lévy fills the screen with dead bodies, wounded soldiers, and men rushing to their certain doom, including one segment where they cut away from the footage of a gray-haired general seconds before he gets shot in the head.

And yet, for all the brilliance of its footage, for all the inconceivable bravery of the men and women who made the documentary, Peshmerga is both insufferable as a documentary and downright insulting as a tribute to the men and women risking their lives against Daesh. The problem is Lévy himself. Lévy, one of France’s most prominent and distinguished living intellectuals and philosophers, felt inclined to highlight every single moment of his film with grandiose, grandiloquent narration. His narration isn’t just poetic, it’s the syrupy prose of a narcissist in love with his voice, convinced that every blessed syllable that drips from his golden tongue is destined to delight and enlighten all mankind. It’s not enough to pan the camera over the faces of shell-shocked civilians rescued from bondage, he must philosophize about the loss of innocence during war. He can’t just boast about the indefatigable bravery of the Peshmerga, he has to chide Daesh militants as cowards who only know how to terrorize, not wage war. Well, if that’s the case, Mr. Lévy, how has Daesh managed to fight off several of the world’s most powerful militaries for years? If these Peshmerga are the invincible warriors you proclaim them, how do Daesh keep deflecting their advances and regrouping?

Nowhere was the short-sightedness of Lévy’s poetic waxings more infuriating than a scene where Peshmerga forces fly a drone over Mosul, Daesh’s de facto capital, to gather intel. Lévy solemnly intones that Mosul is a “City of Evil” that must be destroyed. Mr. Lévy, you realize that there are hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians being terrorized there, or should they all be thrown out with the rest of the chaff when the city is eventually retaken?

And what about the fact that the film seems obsessed with portraying the Peshmerga as righteous heroes—enemy of extremists, friend to both local Christian, Jew, and Yazidi? Lévy fails to mention that the Peshmerga have been decried by Amnesty International for the mass destruction of Arab villages in Iraq. But then, that doesn’t fit Lévy’s narrative, so why should he include it? He’s much too busy rhapsodizing over Helly Luv, the “Kudish Madonna” who makes “morale-boosting” music videos for the Peshmerga. When she first appears, all decked out with red hair and pierced nose, you’d think Lévy was describing an encounter with the Virgin Mary. Never you mind the countless female Peshmerga who risk their lives every day—they get only a few minutes of screen-time and some phoned in statements about how they’re “fighting for equality.”

I wish somebody like Werner Herzog could get a hold of Lévy’s footage so he could re-edit and re-narrate it. It’s abominable that such crucial documentation was wasted on a film that devolves into a road-trip scrapbook serving Lévy’s own sense of self-importance. The entire time I watched it, I couldn’t stop thinking of a line from Roger Ebert’s Great Movies essay on Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969):

Then they have dinner with the weathered rancher and his Mexican-American brood, and Fonda delivers the first of many quasi-profound lines he will dole out during the movie: "It's not every man who can live off the land, you know. You can be proud." (The rancher, who might understandably have replied, "Who the hell asked you?" nods gratefully.)

William Kentridge, Triumphs and Laments (2016) New York Jewish FIlm Festival 2017

Portrait of artist William Kentridge as he puts together a huge frieze 500 meters in length along the banks the Tiber river in Rome. The painting, done in black paint, will only last a few years before being obliterated by the winds and waters of time

Interesting portrait of the artist and his work gives us an intriguing way into his large scale project that is overwhelming when seen on film. I can only imagine what it looks like in person. This  film record of the project it really is something special.  What I really liked was that we got a sense of the artist in motion. How does he do what he does? How do you attempt to pull something off on this grand a scale?

As much as I like the film it presents a slight bit of disappointment in that I really didn't get as good a sense of the artist as a man as much as I would have liked. Yes I know some of Kentridge's work, especially his films but until I saw this film I never had any idea who he was as a  person. Now having seen this film I have a glimpse but there is enough here that I wish I had a bit more. Its a minor quibble, and ultimately not really the focus of the film- it's the work that's ceter here which is fine.

Definitely worth seeing hen the film plays on January 17 and 19. For tickets and more information go here.

Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M (2014) New York Jewish Film Festival 2017

BBC produced  biography of the Divine Miss M filmed in NYC as she is recording a new album. We watch as she is interviewed clips are played and Bette drags the film crew across the city and elsewhere to see all of the places that meant something to here career.

Solid bio is a largely positive look at Midler's career. We do not get any extended time in the darker periods for the film is a loving look at the woman, her music, her jokes and her influence on popular culture. It's a kind of big warm hug from a woman you want to give a big warm hug too.

The film is kind of hard to critique in any detail because the film is what it is. Never intended to be a be all and end all biography the film instead gives us the woman the the way we'd all like to see she her as a trooper singing songs. Its a lovely piece but because the film is from the BBC I was hoping for a tad more distance than we get- this is if nothing a promotional piece for the new album. That doesn't make this a bad film just one that is a tad too fluffy.

Nitpicks aside the real joy here is seeing the film clips from her time in Fiddler on the Roof to David Frost to video of her shows in the baths to her film and TV concerts. Its a wonderful mix of things fans probably have seen dozens of times and real gems that most of us never have, the Tony Award performance, the David Frost piece or even the black and white material from the baths. Its a lovely video document of a wonderful life.

Recommended for anyone looking to see a good bio and a must see alert for anyone who has ever loved Midler and her magic.

THE DIVINE MISS M plays at NYJFF on January 16

Doing Jewish: A Story From Ghana (2016) New York Jewish Film Festival 2017

While volunteering at a women's group in Ghana director Gabrielle Zilkha began to feel lonely for her Jewish roots. Not because she was ever particularly religious but because being alone in Africa she felt that she didn't even have the option. Her mother hearing of her plight tells her about a community a days travel away where there is supposed to be a group of centuries old practicing Jews. Making the trip she finds a ancient community who until relatively recently didn't know that they were part of a larger religion.

Good but kind of fluffy tale of  one woman reconnecting with her own heritage by discovering it some where else. This is an intriguing tale full of lots of good people and some rather interesting questions. While I had heard of various Jewish communities being found in Africa I had never heard of this one and I was enraptured by the history of the tale.

The problem with the film, and hence the fluffy description, is that Zilkha takes a splashy kind of jokey attitude toward the making of the film with lots of shots that were clearly staged, showy wipes, knowing narration and light sense that make it hard to take the whole thing seriously. Personally I found the whole subject fascinating but I wasn't always so keen on the presentation.  I get the feeling that she shot most of the documentary footage and interview material and then went back and shot linking material. I suspect this because some stuff was obvious shot by one person while a lot of the stuff I didn't like was clearly shot by a second camera.

While I truly love the story I only really like the film because the film doesn't quite seem to have a hard enough edge to it.

Regardless  DOING JEWISH is recommended when the film plays Wednesday the 11th at the New York Jewish Film Festival.

Nightcap 1/8/17: The New York Jewish Film Festival starts Wednesday, ROGUE ONE, MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE and Randi's links

The New York Jewish Film Festival Starts Wednesday and we are better for it. This wonderful annual celebration of films with a Jewish connection always manages to give us some absolutely delightful films and events. Among this year’s highlights are a BBC biography of Bette Midler and the 50th anniversary screening of Mel Brooks THE PRODUCERS.

What I love about the festival is that you don’t need to be Jewish to enjoy the films because many transcend the ethnic pigeon holing with a director simply being Jewish. These are films for everyone regardless of their background and having seen a number of films already and having tickets to several more I can promise you that is true. Films such as the PESHMERGA which is screening as the center piece are for anyone who cares about humanity.

I love the festival with all my heart and while MOMI’s First look Fest is the first calendar festival, New York Jewish is the first festival of the calendar year that actually means something since occasionally some of it’s delights survive to get awards at the end of the year.

The fest runs until the 24th and is highly recommended.

A couple of quick notes:

WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME NOW is a very good film with a very great sound track about man named Saar. Almost 20 years earlier he left his home on a kibbutz in Israel because being a gay man who was HIV positive caused rifts in his family. He fled to London where he found a home and acceptance with the London Gay Men's Chorus. Now he wants to go home and he tries to mend fences. While the story isn't anything special, as such the people are. This is a wonderful collection of people you will be glad you've met. Most importantly there is a killer soundtrack - which includes The Pet Shop Boys Go West making this the second film in a year that used the song to great effect (The other is Mountains May Depart). I like the film a great deal and recommend it when it plays the festival January 14 and 22nd.

NUMBERS MAN is a short playing with HUMMUS THE MOVIE. The film is about David who has a seeming endless memory. Working as a cashier at a grocery store David rattles off odd facts and connection to every number he sees. It’s a charming little portrait of a really interesting guy. Recommended

I need to say that I have seen an unfinished version of  ANGEL WAGENSTEIN:ART IS A WEAPON(2017). The film is portrait of novelist, filmmaker, partisan and revolutionary.  As much as I would love to review the film, its an excellent one and was a great way to start the 2017 film year, I can't in good conscious do so. The version I saw was 15 or 20 minutes shorter than the final cut so I don't feel comfortable really reviewing it. The version I saw was so good I don't want to disrespect the film or give false impressions based on the unfinished one I've seen. All I can say is go see the film. (It plays January 17 and 19)

For tickets and more information go here
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I finally saw ROGUE ONE A STAR WARS STORY

I liked it. In it's way it's my favorite film of the series and in a way not.

I like the fact that a film where the whole cast dies can set box office records. (If you didn't know then you never saw Star Wars)

I'm not going to review the film, nothing I can say will make a difference.

While I like the film I have issues- the plot is clunky, the film moves so fast the only characters are Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen because they carry the weight in from another film. There are severe signs that the script was much more complicated but got chopped down.The result is that outside of the aforementioned pair, none of the deaths are emotionally moving.  This would have been better had it not tied directly into Star Wars and thus be a foregone conclusion.

As I said I like the film- I love Donnie & Jiang- and I love what the film show signs of what it might have been had it not been chopped down.
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The awesome MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE is running at the Japan Society Friday. I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.

For tickets and more information go here.
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And now Randi's links

Beck Underwood's Short films
If you didn't see the spaceship in Brooklyn
BBC POP QUIZ
MST3K PRIMORDIAL SOUP
Over 500 Old time Radio Christmas/holiday shows
Joel Sartore Photo Ark
London Pubs
WW1 and Lord of the Rings
Beating Heart Corpses
The Titanic sank because of a fire?

THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER AND THE JEWISH MUSEUM ANNOUNCE THE MAIN SLATE LINEUP FOR THE 26TH ANNUAL NEW YORK JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL, JANUARY 11-24, 2017

Opening Night—New York Premiere of Dorit Hakim’s Moon in the 12th House
Centerpiece—U.S. Premiere of Bernard-Henri Lévy’s Peshmerga
Closing Night—New York Premiere of Maria Schrader’s Stefan Zweig, Farewell to Europe

Highlights include new films by Amos Gitai and Radu Jude, documentaries about Bette Midler, William Kentridge, and Ohad Naharin, and more

NEW YORK, NY (December 12, 2016) – The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center announce the main slate lineup for the 26th annual New York Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF), January 11-24, 2017. Among the oldest and most influential Jewish film festivals worldwide, unique in New York City, and one of the longest running partnerships of two major New York cultural institutions, the NYJFF each year presents the finest narrative and documentary films from around the world that explore the diverse Jewish experience.

The festival’s 2017 main slate features 29 wide-ranging and exciting films and shorts from the iconic to the iconoclastic, of which 26 are screening in their world, U.S., and New York premieres.

The NYJFF opens on Wednesday, January 11 with the New York premiere of Dorit Hakim’s impressive debut feature Moon in the 12th House, which follows two estranged Israeli sisters on the road to reconciliation. Closing Night is the New York premiere of Aimée and Jaguar star Maria Schrader‘s Stefan Zweig, Farewell to Europe, a dramatic chronicle of the German-Jewish writer’s years in exile from Nazi Germany, on Tuesday, January 24. For the first time in its history, the NYJFF will have a Centerpiece screening on Wednesday, January 18: the U.S. premiere of Peshmerga by French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who documented his travels to Iraqi Kurdistan in an effort to better understand the psychology of a culture on the frontlines of the war against ISIS.

Special presentations include the World Premiere of Amos Gitai’s latest, Shalom Rabin, a personal film diary utilizing the director’s own archival footage, featuring a moving interview with Yitzhak Rabin completed shortly before his assassination; the World Premiere of Andrea Simon’s Angel Wagenstein: Art Is a Weapon, a portrait of the revolutionary Bulgarian Jewish filmmaker and novelist, paired with a screening of Konrad Wolf’s 1959 film Stars, for which Wagenstein wrote the screenplay; and the U.S. premiere of Doing Jewish: A Story from Ghana, which follows documentarian Gabrielle Zilkha as she discovers a centuries-old Jewish community in Ghana.

This year’s edition of the festival also features a number of intimate documentaries about captivating Jewish performing artists, including the U.S. premiere of Samantha Peters’s Bette Midler: The Divine Miss M, an ode to the entertainer’s spectacular fifty-year career; Mr. Gaga, Tomer Heymann’s intimate portrait of Ohad Naharin, the renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, in its New York premiere; and Barak and Tomer Heymann’s Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?, which follows HIV-positive Israeli expat Saar Moaz, a member of the London Gay Men’s Chorus.

Other highlights include the New York premiere of culinary documentary Hummus! The Movie; Scarred Hearts, the latest from Radu Jude (Aferim!), based on the novel by Romanian author Max Belcher; the U.S. premiere of Emmanuel Bourdieu’s Louis-Ferdinand Céline, based on the real-life encounter between the controversial French author (played by Denis Lavant), an accused Nazi supporter, and a young Jewish professor in 1948; and the New York premiere of Marie Noëlle’s Marie Curie, The Courage of Knowledge, an intimate biopic of the trailblazing physicist and chemist.

See below for the full main slate lineup. The NYJFF’s special events sections will be announced later this week.

This year’s New York Jewish Film Festival was selected by Rachel Chanoff, Director, THE OFFICE performing arts + film; Jaron Gandelman, Curatorial Assistant for Media, Jewish Museum and Coordinator, New York Jewish Film Festival; Jens Hoffmann, Director of Special Exhibitions and Public Programs, Jewish Museum and Curator for Special Programs, New York Jewish Film Festival; Dennis Lim, Director of Programming, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Aviva Weintraub, Associate Curator, Jewish Museum and Director, New York Jewish Film Festival; and Tyler Wilson, Programming Coordinator, Film Society of Lincoln Center.

NYJFF tickets will go on sale to FSLC and Jewish Museum members on Thursday, December 15 and to the public on Thursday, December 22. Tickets may be purchased online or in person at the Film Society's Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and Walter Reade Theater box offices, 144 & 165 West 65th Street. For our free event ticket policy and complete festival information, visit www.NYJFF.org.

The New York Jewish Film Festival is made possible by the Martin and Doris Payson Fund for Film and Media. Generous support is also provided by Mimi and Barry Alperin, Wendy Fisher and Dennis Goodman, The Liman Foundation, The Jack and Pearl Resnick Foundation, Sara and Axel Schupf, an anonymous gift, and through public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council. Additional support is provided by Israel’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and the German Consulate General New York.

FILM DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE
All films screen digitally at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th St.) unless otherwise noted