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My Father My Lord (2007)
Director: David Volach
Movie review
From Time Out New York
“We do everything that is written in the Torah without asking why.” Such is the implacable explanation received by young Menachem (Griff) when he questions a seemingly irrational act by his pious rabbi father (Dayan) in director David Volach’s impressionistic debut feature. Told mostly from the the young boy’s perspective, My Father My Lord is set among the Haredim, the ultraconservative Orthodox Jewish community in which Volach was raised. The director certainly understands the power of religion in a household where the smallest everyday matters are steeped in theology: Witness how a seemingly innocent photograph triggers a terrifying discussion of the evils of “idolatry.”
With a dreamlike narrative suffused in a fuzzy childhood-memory glow and dominated by the presence of an overbearing father, the movie, in its best moments, suggests a Haredi version of Terence Davies’s 1988 masterpiece, Distant Voices, Still Lives. Nearly plotless for much of its length, My Father My Lord devotes a good deal of time to hermetic Haredi rituals—prayers, songs, trips to the synagogue—even as it challenges the ultimate adequacy of the group’s stark worldview for dealing with the messy contingencies of life, a question yanked abruptly into focus by a tragic late twist.
Author: Joshua Land
Time Out New York Issue 659: May 15 - 21, 2008
User reviews of this film
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- borrisbatanov said...
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Posted on Jul 14 2008 20:45
This movie has to be understood in the context of the tension and
conflict between modern Judaism and ultraorthodox Chassidism, nowhere
more sharply drawn than in Jerusalem, the setting of the movie.
It would an understatement to say that the Chassidics are less than
appreciated by Israeli society at large. They don't serve in the
military or materially contribute to the economy. Most hold no jobs,
but rely on charity or gifts. They breed large families which they can
barely support. They reject the secular state, even the right of Israel
to exist. They live in voluntary isolation, in a cloistered ghetto in
Jerusalem, Mea Sharim, where they are known to stone secular women whom
they consider less than modestly dressed or cars driving through on the
Sabbath.
The movie is a critique of Chassidism by one who fled the flock, writer
and director David Volach. What sets this movie apart is that its
scathing indictment is so subtle and subdued, so balanced and
circumspect. There are no clear villains, no hypocrites, no invective
or bitterness. Thus the movie rises above diatribe or political tract
to tragedy.
This is a life observed in small detail. The cumulative effect,
however, is devastating. I only wish every Chassidic Jew in the world
can be made to see it. - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: David Volach
Cast: Assi Dayan, Ilan Griff, Sharon Hacohen, Nitsam Bar full cast
Genre(s): Drama
Rated: NR
Duration: 74 mins
US Release: Aug 23 2008
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