Post by Jaga on Jul 31, 2007 8:03:10 GMT -7
I just saw yesterday a nice film called "Hester Street" which deals with the aspect of immigrants who assimilater easily to American life and these who want to keep their identity.
Here is more about the movie:
Hester Street tells the story of Jewish immigrants who come to the Lower East side of New York City in 1896 from Europe and who live on Hester Street. When Yekl first comes to the U.S., he quickly assimilates into American culture and becomes Jake. His wife, Gitl, who arrives later with their son, Yossele, cannot assimilate and tension arises in the marriage. When Yossele becomes Joey and Gitl falls in love with Bernstein (who also does not assimilate) she not only leaves the marriage but outsmarts Jake as well.
The film is noteworthy for its detailed reconstruction of Jewish immigrant life in New York at the turn of the century -- much of the dialogue is delivered in Yiddish with English subtitles -- and was part of the wave of films released in the late 1960 and through the 1970s which began explicitly to deal with the complexities of American Jewish identity. In addition, Carol Kane's lead character posed a still-provocative synthesis as she discovers her own self-assertion on behalf of her right to maintain a traditional identity in an aggressively modern setting
Here is more about the movie:
Hester Street tells the story of Jewish immigrants who come to the Lower East side of New York City in 1896 from Europe and who live on Hester Street. When Yekl first comes to the U.S., he quickly assimilates into American culture and becomes Jake. His wife, Gitl, who arrives later with their son, Yossele, cannot assimilate and tension arises in the marriage. When Yossele becomes Joey and Gitl falls in love with Bernstein (who also does not assimilate) she not only leaves the marriage but outsmarts Jake as well.
The film is noteworthy for its detailed reconstruction of Jewish immigrant life in New York at the turn of the century -- much of the dialogue is delivered in Yiddish with English subtitles -- and was part of the wave of films released in the late 1960 and through the 1970s which began explicitly to deal with the complexities of American Jewish identity. In addition, Carol Kane's lead character posed a still-provocative synthesis as she discovers her own self-assertion on behalf of her right to maintain a traditional identity in an aggressively modern setting