Category Archives: Movie review

At conventions of educators, school principals often share their personal “war stories” with colleagues either to unburden themselves, to gain insight into a problem, or perhaps to find a remedy for a difficult professional situation that threatens to hurt them or their school. I remember vividly one principal’s narrative about a parent who wanted so much to remove the principal from his position that he spread a rumor that he had fired one of the beloved veteran administrators of the school. Another principal confided in me that he was falsely accused of being lax in enforcing the school’s no-tolerance drug policy. In both cases, the accusations were false; but, nevertheless, the rumors damaged the reputation of two outstanding professionals in Jewish education. I considered myself very blessed to be in Atlanta as a school principal for many years where the lay community supported the professional leadership of the school even when I occasionally made unpopular decisions. Hearing the narratives of my colleagues reminded me of the terrible harm that slander and gossip can do.

It is the power of slander that is the topic of A Cry in the Dark starring Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain. The movie is based on a true story of an Australian murder trial of a mother accused of killing her own daughter. The body is never found, but a bias against a woman who is seen as cold and unfeeling by her peers creates a mob hysteria that destroys her reputation. Our tradition tells us that every person is presumed to be an upright individual unless proven otherwise. The Torah commands us in many places not to be a talebearer, not to embarrass someone, to always give someone the benefit of the doubt. Yet this is difficult to do when the object of our comments is someone whom we dislike. The fact is, however, that this is precisely the time when we have to overcome our instincts to judge someone unfairly. This is the time when we have to withhold judgment until we have all the facts.

The destructive effects of prejudice are grippingly dramatized in a pivotal scene in which Lindy, exhausted from the trauma of losing a child and then being suspected of murdering it, gives testimony in a courtroom in a cold, dispassionate way. The jurors see her as an insensitive mother who might, indeed, have murdered her own child. As the prosecutor relentlessly cross-examines her, the interrogation is intercut with scenes of ordinary people in the street commenting on her guilt, offering interpretations of why she did it, and feeding the publicity frenzy. As one watches  the montage of images, one gets a real sense of the emotional pain Lindy is suffering when giving evidence of her dead child’s death by a dingo, a wild dog, before a mistrusting audience of jurors and lay people who have come to watch the spectacle with detached amusement.

A Cry in the Dark on a literal level refers to the cry of a baby in the night. On a thematic level, it refers to the cry for compassion and understanding in a world that is often insensitive to the emotional pain of other people, where the public desire to know trumps sensitivity to other human beings. The obvious message: death and life are in the power of tongue, so we have to very careful about what we say about other people. Speech distinguishes man from animal; it is a gift that should not be abused.

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I recently spent a Shabbat in Jerusalem at the Bar Mitzvah of a friend’s son. My friends had converted to Judaism a number of years ago, and now their youngest son was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel. During the course of this joyous weekend, we reminisced about their spiritual journey, which began in earnest in a restaurant in Prague. There they met my son Ezra who struck up a conversation with them and showed them one of the famous synagogues in the city. Ezra put them in touch with me in Denver many months later where they enrolled at a Denver Jewish day school at which I was principal. The journey continued with a move to Rochester, New York, where they officially converted to Judaism and were re-married according to Jewish law. As we talked over dinner in Jerusalem, the wife reminded me that their journey began in a little conversation in Prague which changed the lives of the family forever. One moment in a life can have everlasting ripple effects.

“One moment can change your life forever” is the advertising mantra for Bella, and it proves to be true in the case of Jose, a star soccer player, who on the day of his contract signing experiences a life-changing moment. Infused with the excitement of playing professional soccer, he loses his concentration while driving his car and causes a horrible accident. The terrible effects of this tragedy haunt him as he struggles to come to terms with the consequences of his actions. Near the beginning of the film, one of the characters says, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” This adage of an old grandmother highlights one of the essential messages of the movie; namely, that we are not in full control of our destinies, and it is foolish to think that we are. One day can change everything.

Jose works as the chief chef in a restaurant owed by his adopted brother. He is a master chef; but when he sees his brother treat Nina, a waitress, callously, he leaves the kitchen to console Nina after she has been fired. We find out that Nina is pregnant, and morning sickness has caused her lateness. As Jose and Nina walk the streets of New York together, they meet a blind street vendor with a sign behind his stand which reads: “God closed my eyes. Now I can see.” This sets the stage for each of the main characters to undergo a spiritual transformation, which brings with it a new understanding of life and its adversities.

The street sign with its message of hope provides the spiritual subtext of Bella. Jose and Nina both have experienced hard times; yet Jose, especially, tries to use his tragic past to build a hopeful future for himself and Nina. Jose is a man of faith who comes from a family of faith. They say grace before eating and are mindful of the presence of God in their lives. They celebrate life together and are joyful in relationship with friends. Their wisdom and energy are infectious, and Nina basks in their warm presence.

Through a day’s quiet conversation between Jose and Nina, Nina overcomes her aversion towards carrying her baby to term, and decides to accept motherhood. To Jose, this represents an affirmation of life. Jose values people and values life; and his goal is affirm life not only by encouraging Nina to have her child, but also by reprimanding his brother when he treats his employees cavalierly. He berates his brother for only being concerned about business, and not caring enough about the people who work for him. “It’s all about you,” he shouts when he wants to brother to think about his workers.

There is much to admire in Bella. It is about being sensitive to the trials and tribulations of others. It is also about repentance. How do we atone for a grave sin? How can we get forgiveness from someone who is no longer alive? Do we have to atone for a sin that we committed inadvertently? All these questions are discussed in the codes of Jewish law, and the dilemmas that Jose faces can be viewed in the classic context of Jewish repentance literature. Moreover, the film demonstrates the value of family as a positive force to help one overcome challenges in life. A loving and supportive family is critical to Jose’s ability to cope with personal tragedy. Other people might choose illicit drugs to escape a painful reality, but Jose is not part of that culture.

Above all, Bella presents not only a story of personal tragedy and redemption, but also a story of one act of kindness that is transformational in the life of one person, Nina. The Ethics of the Fathers reinforces the importance of kindness when it tells us that it is one of the three pillars upon which the world is based (Avot 1:2). Kindness is an eternal attribute of the Jewish people, and this seminal life lesson of kindness is embedded in the gentle and thoughtful narrative of Bella.

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My son-in-law served in the Marines during the Gulf War. Sent to Kuwait, he was probably the only Orthodox Jew serving there. When he returned safe and sound, thank God, I had several discussions with him about the most important thing he learned from his military experience. He told me it was unforgettable and he valued it because it gave him an intense appreciation of every moment of life. He became more attuned to the presence of Godliness in the world, more attentive to the everyday miracles of life. It is this awareness of the preciousness of every moment of life that is at the core of Hereafter, a film that has something to say about the afterlife, but has more to say about how we lead our lives. Do we pay attention to our life experiences or do we simply go through life on auto-pilot?

Hereafter tells three stories of emotional crisis. One is about a woman who survives a tsunami after having a near-death experience. Another is about a young boy, Marcus, who loses his twin brother, Jason, and another about a man who has a childhood illness leading to a near death experience, which leaves him with the ability to communicate with the dead. The stories originate in different locations, Paris, London, and San Francisco; but they all converge in London at the story’s end where all the main characters have arrived, suggesting perhaps that a hidden divine hand is guiding their respective fates.

In Hereafter, things happen which can easily be explained as natural events, but which can also be explained as supernatural. It depends on how you view life. Is it ordinary or extraordinary? As if to punctuate this juxtaposition, George Lonegan, the psychic played by Matt Damon, goes to sleep each night listening to audiotapes of the novels of Charles Dickens. His depiction of everyday Victorian life emotionally grounds George who is haunted by his psychic gift that prevents him from leading a conventional life. The scene depicts the normal human ambivalence between perceiving the world as the unfolding of natural processes and perceiving the world as a constant revelation of the miraculous.

Another scene portrays this dissonance between natural and supernatural perceptions of the world. The surviving brother, Marcus, seeks to communicate with his dead brother. On one day he goes to the underground London train station to travel to someone who he thinks can help him with his task. As the train enters the platform, his hat, which belonged to his dead brother, falls off his head. He struggles to retrieve it as it is trampled by passers-by. When he finally reclaims it, he misses his train. Seconds later, there is an explosion on the departing train and Marcus miraculously escapes death. Was it a coincidence, what is God intervening, was it his dead brother protecting him? The answer is ambiguous but the question is not, for it presupposes a willingness to see the world without preconceptions of why things happen.

Often, there is often a sign over the ark in traditional synagogues on which is inscribed the classic line from King David’s Psalms:  “God is always before me.” It is a passage that resonates with me. It reminds me never to take things for granted. It reminds me to pay attention to life, to see God’s handiwork always in front of me. Focusing on the maxim, I am reminded to look for God’s hidden hand behind everyday events. What are His messages? Am I listening? Am I paying attention?

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As a high school student in A.B. Davis High School in Mount Vernon, New York, I took two years of Spanish. Much of the second year was taken up with the complexities of the subjunctive tense, about which I never could gain mastery. As a result, my marks over four consecutive marking periods were 50, 55, 60, 65, until I took the New York Regents at the end of the year. The Regents Exam was the state- mandated exam that separated the men from the boys. If you passed the Regents with a good grade, the meant that you really knew your stuff. In the days leading up to the Regents, our teacher gave us periodic exams, which I usually failed. During one of the exams, I looked up from my desk and saw perhaps the brightest student in the class use a cheat sheet. While I struggled to pass, he took a short cut to success. His report card was filled with “A”s while mine had “F”s.  I imagined a scary future: will he be doing this in medical school as well ?

But then the Regents came and I got in the 90s because there were no subjunctive tense questions on the exam. The teacher thought I cheated but couldn’t prove it so he had to give me an “A” for the last report card period. The whole experience reminded me that honesty ultimately pays, if not immediately, then in the long run. Honesty is  the heart of the matter in Shattered Glass.

Shattered Glass is a story ostensibly about journalism and its commitment to truthful reportage.  An early scene in the film depicts Stephen Glass, a successful journalist, sharing his wisdom with an avid group of high school students who may aspire to be writers one day. Glass’s presentation is warm, infectious, and devoid of egotism. He writes for The New Republic, the “in-flight magazine of Air Force One,” and tells his young fans that when you write for such an influential magazine, “your work gets read by people that matter.” Surely this is a heady job, but he cautions the students that reporters have to be responsible for what they write and there is more to the job than simply getting your own name into print. Journalism ultimately is about the pursuit of truth, and that is what makes it important.

All this is preamble for an account of deception and lies. As the movie unfolds, we see Stephen fabricating story after story in a working environment where fact-checking is critical. Because he is an entertaining presence at staff meetings, he ingratiates himself with his fellow employees, who are unsuspecting of his ethics. When an internet magazine uncovers the deception, Stephen’s imaginary world falls apart. He has spun a web of lies from which he cannot extricate himself, and he begins blaming others instead of accepting responsibility for his actions.

Shattered Glass is a powerful morality lesson depicting what transpires when we lack integrity, when there is no respect for truth. The Ethics of the Fathers tells us that one of the pillars upon which the world stands is truth (Avot 1:18). Without that essential element, societies cannot exist. The film also presents the consequences of losing a good name: loss of job, loss of credibility. Our Sages remind us that one’s good name is the most important possession we have. Rabbi Shimon says: “There are three crowns—the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship, but the crown of a good name surpasses them all (Avot 4:17).” Furthermore, we see how the pursuit of fame is ephemeral. The more one pursues it, the more it eludes him. Countless statements in the Talmud reinforce this notion: “He who seeks fame loses his reputation (Avot 1:13);” “A desire for honor removes a man from the world (Avot 4:28);” “Do not desire honor (Avot 6:5).” Finally, the Talmud explicitly tells us that we should always attribute the source when we quote another’s statement: “Whoever reports a saying in the name of its originator brings deliverance to the world, as it says, And Esther told the king in the name of Mordechai (Megillah 15a).

Finally Shattered Glass provides an example of the adage in The Ethics of the Fathers that tells us “Whoever desecrates the Name of Heaven in secret, they will exact punishment from him in public (Avot 4:5).” Stephen Glass is a liar, a distorter of truth in order to promote his own image. In the end, his deception is revealed in a public way, not only in the news media but in the film that is cleverly titled Shattered Glass.

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