The Vernon Film Society brings in an unusual film that visits a world we rarely see, the Hasidic community of New York City, using non-actors who speak entirely in Yiddish.
But the emotional focus presented by co-writer/director Joshua Z. Weinstein is what makes Menashe so incredibly special. Here is a film dedicated to recognizing our most common obstacles: guilt, shame and defeat.
Like nearly the entire cast, Menashe Lustig has never acted professionally, bringing an awkwardness to the role that makes him all the more endearing — a necessary quality in a film that questions whether the character is fit to be a single father in a culture that strictly insists that children be raised in dual-parent households. That means as a young widower, Menashe must remarry immediately, or else agree to surrender custody of his young son Rieven (Ruben Niborski) to his more stable brother-in-law Eizik (Yoel Weisshaus).
Menashe is a direct opposite of what his rabbi, The Ruv (Meyer Schwartz) says that the Talmud indicates any good man should have: “A good wife, a good home, nice dishes.”
Stubborn yet prideful, he is desperate to prove to his peers that he is fit to take care of his son, but he keeps screwing up, alternating between two Yiddish terms: a schlemiel (inept) and a schlimazel (unlucky).
“Menashe transcends its anxieties and becomes wholly comforting, like the closest that art can come to offering a big hug. What an extraordinary feeling to watch a movie that essentially wraps its arms around you and says, “It’s okay, buddy. We’ve all been there,” wrote Nick Allen, www.rogerebert.com.
Menashe is Oct. 30 at the Vernon Towne Cinema at the regular times of 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available one week ahead at the theatre and the Bean Scene Coffee House for $7. Cash only. Rated PG.