Wagner, Hofmann, Loos – The Furniture Design of Viennese Modernity, Imperial Furniture Collection, Vienna, Austria 9.5* out of 10

This exhibition at the Imperial Furniture Collection in Vienna shows the protagonists as furniture and interior designers in the context of a network of intellectuals and business people who furthered their development by giving and getting them commissions.  Open until 28 October 2018, it is the most enjoyable and interesting exhibition I have seen so far this year on Vienna around 1900.  If you live in Vienna or plan to visit the Austrian capital, don’t miss it.

This year, many museums in Vienna are putting on special exhibitions in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the Habsburg Empire and the death of several important representatives of “Viennese Modernity”. These include painters like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and architects/designers like Otto Wagner and Koloman Moser. 

Internationally, the painters are very well known. The architects and designers who developed a Viennese Style contemporary with Art Nouveau and the English Arts and Crafts Movement, less so. Yet their aesthetic has remained influential well into our time.

An excellent exhibition at Vienna’s Imperial Furniture Collection, which concentrates on three architects of Viennese Modernity, Otto Wagner, Josef Hofmann and Adolf Loos now allows visitors to Vienna to get to know them and their furniture and interior designs in the context of Viennese cultural intellectual and fashion life of the time.

The exhibition shows stunning examples of furniture and interior design by the three protagonists, presents the people who commissioned them to design their apartments and tells the stories of companies such as Thonet, who turned beautiful designs into reality. It shows the networks of Viennese salons and intellectuals in which Wagner, Hofmann and Loos moved and thanks to which they obtained many of their most important commissions. These include such interesting characters as the Austrian writer and cultural critic Karl Kraus, Bertha Zuckerkandl a journalist who kept an influential literary salon and Eugenie “Genia” Schwarzwald, a writer and pioneer of education for women in Austria. A vivid picture of a striving future-oriented rather optimistic Vienna emerges, in which mainly Jewish intellectuals and business people are involved in commissioning work from the non-Jewish Wagner, Hofmann and Loos. Sadly a few years later, many of their clients will perish in the Holocaust, others manage to flee Vienna in time to escape this fate and go into exile.

Apart from wonderful examples of interiors and pieces of furniture, supplemented by contemporary photographs, the panels are full of stories and quotes that enlighten, entertain and create a vivid context for the exhibited pieces and show cooperation and competition among the protagonists on a very human level. All the panels are in German and English. The quality of the translation is excellent.

This exhibition is the most enjoyable interesting I have seen this year on Vienna around 1900. It is a pity, that the well-researched and beautifully written accompanying catalogue is only available in German.

The exhibition at the Imperial Furniture Collection in Vienna is open until 28 October 2018. If you live in Vienna or plan to visit the Austrian capital before that date, don’t miss it.

http://www.hofmobiliendepot.at/ausstellung/aktuelle-sonderausstellung/wagner-hoffmann-loos-und-das-moebeldesign-der-wiener-moderne.html

Unfortunately, like the accompanying catalogue, the website of the exhibition is only in German but all the panels in the exhibition are in English as well as German.

Tully, Film 2018, written by Diablo Cody directed by Jason Reitman 8.5* out of 10

"Tully" succeeds as a personal drama with funny moments that puts the spotlight on the experience of a woman in an educated middle-class household in the US trying to raise kids and manage a family. Charlize Theron's understated performance as Marlo,  a wife and mother on the edge of a nervous breakdown, trying to hold it together is outstanding.

Marlo (Charlize Theron) and her husband Drew (Ron Livingstone) live in the suburbs near New York City. They are in their late 30s and have two young children Emmy (Maddie Dixon –Poirier) and Jonah (Asher Miles Fallica), who has mild behavioural problems, and a third child is on the way. Like many middle-class families Marlo and Drew are just about managing financially. Drew is absorbed in his work project, while Marlo is struggling with her pregnancy and running the household. When Marlo’s financially successful brother Craig (Mark Duplass) offers to pay for a “night-nanny” to help Marlo through the first weeks of the baby’s arrival, she first says no, but later changes her mind. Tully (McKenzie Davies), the young attractive night-nanny arrives and not only takes care the new baby but also of Marlo. Thanks to Tully taking care of her physically and spiritually, Marlo for the first time in a long while has time to take a breath and think about herself and assess her situation in a new light. As Marlo revisits her life and younger self she becomes ever more confident and adventurous; but gradually her initiatives start to cross conventional lines and not only Drew is starting to question where all this will lead….

"Tully" succeeds as a personal drama with funny moments that puts the spotlight on the experience of a woman in an educated middle-class household in the US trying to raise kids and manage a family. Meanwhile her husband struggles to provide the financial means, a good university education and an expert-level white collar job. This being an American film, it simultaneously questions and celebrates the virtue of self-reliance rather than engaging in social criticism let alone in questioning of the economic system. In Europe, one cannot help but compare the situation Marlo finds herself in, with women in countries such as Sweden where generous provisions for parental leave are designed to give both mothers and fathers sufficient time and money to organise family life in a calmer and more balanced manner. 

“Tully” stands out above the more standard Hollywood fare, as an unusual, intelligent and suspenseful story. Yet, like Hollywood often does very well, it successfully bundles humour, drama and emotion. Strong writing, excellent acting performances and competent direction combine to hold the audience attention and emotion from beginning to end through some moments of uncomfortable viewing. Charlize Theron's understated performance as Marlo, a wife and mother on the edge of a nervous breakdown, trying to hold it together is outstanding, and McKenzie Davis is excellent as her not quite perfect young helper in the title role. “Tully” is worth a visit to the cinema.

The Cleaners, Documentary Film 2017, directed by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, 8.5* out of 10

Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck have created a thrilling documentary about the human challenges of a hitherto unexamined part at the frontline of the social media. By focusing on the individuals in the frontline of examining extreme content they show the human drama and thereby raise the systemic issues in an accessible and impressive way. 

The Cleaners in the title of this documentary are the people on the frontline of social media who view posts, photos and videos and decide whether they need to remove them. To make this decision they view content which has been identified by some Artificial Intelligence software as potentially problematic and refer to policies they have received from the clients of their employer, among them Facebook, Twitter and YouTube (Google-Alphabet). These global market-leaders of social networking have outsourced these task, but by ordering it to be done, they have explicitly assumed a certain editorial responsibility for. Their software, policy manual, and the outsourcer they have chosen are there to ensure that certain types of content posted by anyone of their billions of users will be removed if it is “unacceptable”. Examples of the unacceptable are child pornography, terror propaganda, lots of types of lewd nakedness and certain forms of lèse majesté, particularly if images or representations of prominent figures involve lewd nakedness or sex.

The job of the cleaners involves being relentlessly assaulted by the most brutal and disgusting pictures and videos. From child rape to ISIS beheadings, a cleaner must view thousands of disgusting pictures every day and decide which of these they need to remove and why. 

The go-to country for finding an outsourcing company to do this job are the Philippines. One can only speculate that it is the combination of low wage cost together with its “Christian values” of this former Spanish and US colony that has something to do with the Filipinos and Filipinas being considered the most suitable work-force for this task. The cleaners who are recruited are mainly smart though, well educated, young people who are in the front-line of the most popular social media being paid USD 1.--  to USD 2.-- per hour.

The film presents five former “cleaners” who, despite the non-disclosure agreement they have signed with their former employers, articulately explain what they did, why they did it, how it made them feel and what impact performing this task had on them in the long run.

The social media giants and the outsourcing companies are secretive about the “cleaning” aspect of their operations; therefore, the pioneering work done by Block, Riesewieck and their team to bring to light how this work is performed in the frontline and by whom, is not only a scoop, but also a valuable contribution to the important debates concerning social media, fake news, freedom of expression and its limits. By focusing on the cleaners and their experiences and giving them ample room to present themselves, warts and all, the filmmakers have made a documentary that feels like a psychological drama. This approach makes their documentary interesting for a very wide audience beyond those who are interested in social media. In fact, it shows how ordinary people with whom we can identify and empathise try to cope under extreme conditions. Some of this makes for uncomfortable yet compelling viewing.

Block and Riesewieck have also found former mid-level managers from the social media giants who speak very eloquently and clearly about real live examples of the challenges they faced and how they tried to cope with what often were unprecedented situations. The testimony of Nicole Wong formerly responsible for policy in this area at Google and Twitter lays out the complex issues she was faced with very well.

Their documentary is least interesting when they show examples of people and cases who generate the posts that the cleaners must deal with, but thankfully this part of the documentary is not overlong. The case for Facebook posts containing hate-speech being mainly responsible for the escalation of the conflict between Buddhists and Rohingyas in Myanmar was not convincingly made,

With The Cleaners, Block and Riesewieck have created a thrilling documentary about the human challenges of a hitherto unexamined part at the frontline of the new media. By not adding a commentary voice, they avoid telling the viewer what to think, thereby making the impact of what the protagonists tell us even stronger and more direct. The research behind the documentary cannot have been easy and is clearly of high quality. The Cleaners is a remarkable first effort and one can hope for more great documentaries from these filmmakers. 

With the rapid development and convergence of new technologies (Artificial Intelligence, picture and film editing tools) the task of the human cleaners may soon be replaced by software while the challenge may soon be overtaken by ever greater manipulative technologies used to appeal to people’s emotions.  Nevertheless, The Cleaners is the timely product of the kind of documentary journalism which should be reinforced and multiplied. Organisations to which film-makers can turn for support (financial, technical, commissioning and more) have a crucial role to play here. Independent Public Broadcasters like the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF and the BBC in the UK have played an important role in making this documentary possible. They and the others are to be congratulated and supported for successfully fulfilling they’re role of critically examining important political, social and economic developments in an accessible and suspenseful way.

The Cleaners is a documentary, that holds the viewer’s full attention, informs you, makes you think and will stay with long after the final credits. Highly recommended.

Heartburn, Novel (1983) and Audiobook (2013), written by Nora Ephron, performed by Meryl Streep 9* out of 10

In Heartburn Nora Ephron worked deep hurt and an awful sinking feeling into a hilarious book with many pithy observations and useful cooking recipes. What can be more compelling than reading this book? Listening to the audiobook of Meryl Streep performing it as a soliloquy.

In Heartburn Rachel Samstat tells the story of the break-up of her second marriage. Rachel is a food writer and her second husband is a journalist in the Washington of the 1980s. The Washington of the time after the story told in the recent movie The Post, the Washington of the time after the story told in the not so recent movie All the Presidents Men: post Nixon, post-Watergate, post the heroics of the two journalists who unravelled the Nixon White House, Edward Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

But that is not what Heartburn is about. What Heartburn is about, is a woman being left in the lurch by her husband. 7-months pregnant, she is fighting the battle against letting herself become a victim for the rest of her life using the weapons at her disposal: an acute sense of observation honed by a successful career in journalism and a great sense of humour, occasionally self-deprecating, often hilarious, always from the heart. 

What makes Heartburn stand out is that with all the journalism and with all the humour, the deep hurt and that awful sinking feeling of “how do I ever get out of this one without going into a never-ending spiral of bitterness and decline” is palpably there behind the truly funny and hugely entertaining telling of the story. 

So, what can be more compelling than reading this book? Listening to Meryl Streep performing it as a soliloquy. And this enjoyment can be yours, if you get Heartburn performed by Meryl Streep in audiobook form. 

A few words about the genre Audiobook, which and which has enriched my cultural life after I discovered it, about a year ago. I always get the paperback or Kindle version, as well as the audiobook; sometimes I read along while I listen, or perhaps I listen while I read. At other times, I read, then listen (often while pottering about the home, doing my laundry, preparing breakfast), then read again. An audio book performance can be much more than having a book read to you; it can be an art-form in its own right. Heartburn performed by Meryl Streep is a case in point.

Although a novel, Heartburn is quite closely based on true events. In her second marriage Nora Ephron was married to Carl Bernstein (of Woodward and Bernstein / Watergate fame) who had an affair with Margaret Jay the very tall wife of the then British Ambassador to the United States and daughter of the former British Prime Minister James Callaghan. But that, although considered very interesting at the time, is very much by the by as far as what makes this novel and Meryl Streep’s performance a great read and listen.

After writing Heartburn, Nora Ephron went on to write great screenplays of romantic Hollywood comedies, including Heartburn (starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson), When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail. She died much too soon of Leukaemia in 2012. The 2017 film The Post (starring Meryl Streep) was dedicated to her memory. 

Book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heartburn-Virago-Modern-Classics-Ephron/dp/0349010358/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1527925430&sr=8-1&keywords=heartburn+nora+ephron

Audio Book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heartburn/dp/B00DGKZNOO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527932517&sr=1-1&keywords=heartburn+nora+ephron+audio

Nora Ephron

The Bookshop, Film 2017, directed by Isabelle Coixet, 7.5* out of 10

The Bookshop depicts the good and evil of English village life in the 1950s: repressed emotions, intrigue of the  upper classes towards the lower ones, calm determination without guile in the face of overwhelming odds. Somewhat flawed, yet very watchable.

1958 in the sleepy English seaside village of Hardborough, Suffolk. Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) is a war widow in her late 30s who has bought and moved into the “old house” an abandoned, long neglected abode. She also wants to turn part of her new home into a bookshop. This risky plan upsets quite a few people in Hardborough, most notably the wife of retired General Gamart (Reg Wilson), Violet Gamart (Patricia Clarkson). Violet Gamart holds a lot of sway in the aptly named Hardborough. She would like to turn the “Old House” into an Arts Centre run by her would be lover, the slimy author of questionable talent Milo North (James Lance), who undeservedly lives off public broadcasting licence fees. Florence’s unlikely allies in this uneven struggle are the redoubtable 13-year-old Christine (Honor Kneafsey), who becomes her shop assistant, and the mysterious gentlemen recluse Edmund Brundish (Bill Nighy), who becomes her first regular customer.

Adapted from a novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop is a film for bibliophiles with a penchant for books by Ray Bradbury and Vladimir Nabokov and a rather Manichean view of English seaside village society. Mr Brundish likes biographies about good people and novels about evil ones. And as the narrator (the very pleasant voice of Julie Christie) puts it, the world consists essentially of two kinds of people: those who destroy and those who are to be destroyed by them. The Bookshop shows us all the good and all the evil that we continental Europeans think of, when they think of England of the 1930s to the 1960s: repressed feelings, evil intrigue of the  upper classes towards the lower ones, calm determination and stiff upper lip without guile in the face of overwhelming odds. 

An interesting ideological aspect of the story is the honest shopkeeper battling without any state support against undeserving would be artists subsidised by the public broadcaster (BBC) and supported by the upper classes who are apt of using their privileged position to influence politics to further their personal interests. A rather unfashionable, somewhat Thatcherite view of what is wrong in the England of the late 1950s. English viewers of the Bookshop might object to this and to the internationality brought into the filming of such a very English story: Suffolk is set in Northern Ireland and Spain, a Spanish director is in charge, an American actress (Patricia Clarkson) plays a very English lady. 

In the end virtues to commend this movie outweigh its flaws: Director Isabelle Coixet tells a moving story in a clear and straightforward way; the ensemble acting is good, with Emily Mortimer delivering a beautifully judged performance; Bill Nighy is well-cast, doing what Bill Nighy does so very well; young Honor Kneafsey is a plucky street-wise Christine. The cinematography by Jean-Claude Larrieu is beautifully atmospheric. All this makes The Bookshop very watchable.

Lady Bird, Film (2017), written and directed by Greta Gerwig, 9.5* out of 10

“Lady Bird” is a beautiful coming of age drama rewarding us with moving and witty scenes, dialogues and characters.  Saoirse Ronan in the title role and Laurie Metcalfe as her mother are outstanding. With this film, Greta Gerwig establishes herself as a supremely talented filmmaker with an original and intelligent voice. 

Christine “Lady Bird” MacPherson (Saoirse Ronan) is in her last year at the private catholic St. Xavier High School in Sacramento (California). Her parents can hardly afford to send her there. Her father (Tracy Letts) an IT specialist in his late 50 is in a precarious job position. Her mother, a psychiatric nurse, runs the family household, which includes an adopted brother and his girlfriend , with an eye on its worsening economic prospects. Making ends meet is her greatest challenge, just at a time when Lady Bird is dreaming of attending an expensive college on the East Coast of the USA. “I want schools like Yale, but not Yale, because I probably couldn't get in.” 

Meanwhile Lady Bird is making her final year experiences, rebelling against authority, falling in love, conducting real friendships and engaging in useful ones. Lady Bird is not beyond a bit of cheating in pursuit of her worthy academic goals and love interests. She is in that place where behaviour can dramatically switch, from needy child to self-assured adult with bouts of hard-nosed rebelliousness, mainly against her mother. A mother who wants to instil a tough realism into her daughter who sees the future as exciting open and full of possibilities: the hopes you have for your future are not likely to be fulfilled; make the best you can with the hand you are dealt; do your duty to your family and your community; be a good rather than happy person, live in dignity but prepare on living with very limited means. As she starts into the new phase of her life Ladybird does not want to settle for that. With mother and daughter are both headstrong and persistent.

For me, “Lady Bird” is drama with hilarious moments, rather than a comedy.  With this film, Greta Gerwig shows that she is a supremely talented filmmaker with an original and intelligent voice. As a writer, all the characters in her film are complex and interesting, all have something to commend them to us – no stereotypes or caricatures here. As a director, Gerwig packs a great deal of content into a scene.  Dialogue, pictures and music each tell a different aspect of the story, but everything is carefully composed, like separate melodies that come together beautifully, but are not always in obvious harmony. This makes for cognitively challenging but exciting viewing. For me it took two viewings to fully appreciate the punch “Lady Bird” packs. I find it difficult to decide whether this is a criticism of me, or of the film. Important developments in the plot and the dialogue happen spontaneously –  you snooze you lose. Witty lines and great cinematography seem to come at you seemingly out of nowhere and yet they are clearly carefully crafted. If you are attentive, they will delight you. 

Saoirse Ronan in the title role and Laurie Metcalfe as her mother are outstanding in the way they embody their characters and render the turbulent relationship between mother and daughter utterly believable. They movingly bring to life the great scenes and wonderful lines they have been gifted by Gerwig. Together they have created characters that will stay with us long after the film has ended. The supporting roles are memorable too, notably Beanie Feldstein as Lady Bird's best friend Julie.  

“Lady Bird” is a truly original coming of age film rewarding us with moving and witty scenes, dialogues and characters, which will stay etched in our memories for a long time. 

The Shape of Water, Film 2017, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro starring Sally Hawkins, 7.5* out of 10

Big Oscar Winner of 2018, Guillermo del Toro's 1960s fantasy is a simplistic politically correct fairy tale, celebrating "the other". Yet even the most critical viewer will be tempted to surrender to this irresistibly beautiful film.  

It is 1962 in the USA, when nice people were elected President and nasty people joined the military-industrial complex. The mute Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) has a very organised life with a set daily routine, including a daily bout of sexual self-sufficiency in the bath with an egg-timer ensuring it does not make her too late for work. Elisa also has two friends. One is her middle-aged neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) a commercial artist who has fallen on hard times. The gay Giles is a fan of 1930’s musical films featuring Betty Grable and Shirley Temple. Her other friend Zelda (Octavia Spencer) is a feisty black lady with whom Elisa works as cleaner in a secret underground laboratory complex of the US Department of Defence in Baltimore. 

One day a mysterious humanoidly-handsome water creature caught in the Amazon is brought there by Strickland (Michael Shannon) a brutal careerist working for military intelligence. He and his bosses are afraid of falling behind in the cold war space and scientific race with the Soviets and believe that water-creature vivisection is the path scientific dominance over the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Elisa gains the mistreated creature’s trust and a romantic attachment forms between the two outsiders. A race against the clock begins as Elisa helped by her two friends tries to set the water creature free.

The story of Guillermo del Toro’s movie is largely a remake of some of our favourite fairy tales and iconic films, such as Beauty and the Beast, Frankenstein or ET. Given the watery theme, the “frog prince” comes to mind - with the slight twist that the princess feels sexually attracted to the frog and does not want him to turn into a prince. The characters are helpfully stereotyped to underline the simplicity: white men are evil unless they are gay. Women are good unless they are suburban white housewives. Hofstettler (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Soviet spy scientist is the only ambivalent and conflicted character. 

Having said that, it is difficult to escape the attraction of this simple tale of good and evil. Casting is excellent and the actors led by Sally Hawkins do a very good job. But above all it is the captivating visual power of this film with its early 1960s aesthetic (reminiscent of the iconic television series “Mad-Men”) and the magical dream-like watery sequences that win you over.  Designer Paul Austerberry and cinematographer Dan Laustsen are the creators of the atmosphere and of film sequences which together with Paul Desplat's music ensure that The Shape of Water will remain etched into viewers’ memories. 

Watching the Shape of Water all my critical faculties slowly ebbed away; I surrendered to this irresistibly beautiful film. 

The Great Wave, Play written by Francis Turnly, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, National Theatre London, 8* out of 10

The Great Wave is a suspenseful political thriller based on recent true events, which successfully juxtaposes this with the moving story of a small, close family in Japan.  It holds the audience's attention from beginning to end.

1979: Teenage sisters Hanako (Kirsty Rider) and Reiko (Kae Alexander) live with the mother Etsuko (Rosalind Chao) in a house near the Japanese coast. After a typical teenage sister quarrel, Hanako and Reiko are caught up in a storm and a great wave. Hanako disappears. Has a local boy from Reiko’s class who claims to have seen her that night on the beach murdered her? Has she been swallowed by the great wave? Hanako’s body cannot be found but her mother feels that Hanako is still alive. She and Reiko will not rest until they find out what has happened to her. It will take years before they get a first clue which points to Japan’s neighbour North Korea. Moreover, their tireless efforts  to find answers will be frustrated over decades by successive Japanese governments' "Realpolitik" towards the volatile neighbour North Korea overriding the duty to individual citizens in distress.  

At the heart of this play is the plot hatched by Kim Il-sung the President of the “Democratic Republic of Korea” (North Korea) and his courtiers. Like his grand-son Kim Jong-un, the current President, he is at the head of a brutal and unscrupulous regime that demands adulation and spreads fear and preemptively deploys mental and physical cruelty. Playwright Francis Turnly has managed to write a suspenseful political thriller based on true events, which successfully juxtaposes this with the moving story of a small, close family in Japan. Through no fault of their own find mother and daughters find their lives permanently changed by a mysterious secret service operation almost too fantastical to be believed. With the help of a great set by Tom Piper and Indhu Rubisingham’s straightforward direction production tells the story in a manner which holds the audience’s attention from start to finish. There are strong acting performances by Rosalind Chao, Kirsty Rider and Kae Alexander. The Great Wave is a good example of how a modern political story can be told in an engaging and deeply human way that we can all share rationally and emotionally irrespective of “identity” and culture.

For those who have missed the short run of the play at the National Theatre's Dorfman Theatre, one can hope that this play, which had its world premiere on 15 March 2018 will transfer to another London theatre in due course. 


https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-great-wave

Die Stadt Ohne.... Juden Moslems Flüchtlinge Ausländer (The City Without…Jews Muslims Refugees Foreigners), Exhibition at the Austrian Film Archives, Vienna, 8* out of 10

Illustrated by projections of scenes from the recently rediscovered 1924 film "The City Without Jews", this exhibition explains and demonstrates the escalating steps by which members of a majority group can be made to ultimately exert violence on a distinct minority group. The curators are to be commended to doing a good job with a difficult subject.

Die Stadt Ohne… is an exhibition at the Austrian Film Archives in Vienna that attempts to illustrate the mechanisms by which majority groups in society can deal with minority groups in dysfunctional ways that lead to increasing marginalization, dehumanization and mistreatment of minorities. The title of the exhibition alludes to an Austrian silent film of 1924 by Karl Breslauer, "The City Without Jews" which was thought to be lost until a complete version was found by accident in a Paris flea-market in 2015. The first showings of the film, which has been restored with funds obtained from a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, took place this week in Vienna. 

The film, based on a satirical novel by the Austrian journalist, writer and activist Hugo Bettauer published in 1922, describes a fictional city, resembling Vienna after the World War I. The population and its politicians round on its Jewish population. They blame, exclude, mistreat and finally expel the Jews. But once the Jews have left the city ceases to function properly. In an improbable happy ending the Jews are asked to come back. They return to resume their crucial role in the economic and social life of the city. 

Hugo Bettauer, himself a Jew who had converted to Christianity,  became a campaigner for women’s rights, decriminalization of homosexuality and proponent of free love. He was assassinated in March 1925 by Otto Rothstock, a young National Socialist whose subsequent trial turned into tribunal against the victim. His fellow citizens sent Rothstock letters of support brimming with antisemitic invective; some of these letters are on show in the exhibition. Rothstock was still proud of his heinous deed when interviewed for Austrian television in 1979. 

The exhibition takes place at a moment where Austria is commemorating the “Anschluss” to Hitler’s Germany in March 1938 and the accession to government of the Austrian Freedom Party, a party that has antisemitism and virulent resistance against anything that in their view threatens the German nature of Austria in its DNA. That includes migrants and asylum seekers from Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East that bring their customs and religions, in particular Islam, to Austria. 

Illustrated by projections of scenes from the film "The City Without Jews", the escalating steps by which members of a majority group can be made to ultimately exert violence on a distinct minority group are demonstrated explained: polarisation, scapegoating, loss of empathy, brutality/violence. The reality of what happened to Vienna’s Jews between 1938 and 1945 is recalled by photographs of the empty apartments Vienna’s Jews left behind on their way into exile or to the death camps. A second line of narrative looks at how similar mechanism play out after World War II against Jews (not that there were many left in Austria, but that did not matter) and other minority groups in Austria. Posters from post-World War II electoral campaigns, and quotes from Austrian politician show that playing the antisemitism card and the anti-"foreigners amongst us"-card was common among all political parties in Austria, Nationalist, Christian, or Socialist. The National Freedom Party and the student fraternities with which it is associated use antisemitism in the most openly blatant way while the Christian people’s party in a clever way ensuring plausible deniability. For the Socialists, it’s complicated, but less so when they are not in government, as is the case right now. They are ideologically opposed to antisemitism and racial prejudice, but while the statutes are willing the flesh is often weak. The exhibition illustrates all this with a series of antisemitic and racist quotes from 1945 to 2018 asking the visitor to indicate which political party the quoted politician belonged to. 

While mistreatment a minority by the majority and the state does not necessarily lead to mass murder, it still undermines the humanity of a society and of individuals within it. At the same time, each one of us is potentially attracted to the narratives and mechanisms shown and predisposed to conform with our social group. This makes it hard for individuals to resist; but resist we can, particularly if we are aware of our own predispositions. 

Bettauer’s vision of the Jews being expelled was not just an eerie premonition of what was to happen to the Jews of Vienna within 20 years of the book being written and the film made. Jews had been expelled from Vienna in the 18th century by the empress Maria Theresia who had very much the same visceral dislike for them as the politicians in Bettauer’s novel, a relevant episode in Viennese history which is unfortunately not mentioned in the exhibition.  And, of course, Jews were expelled from other countries too, for example in Spain at the end of the 15th century. 

I can recommend this exhibition which is compact and to the point. The curators Andreas Brunner, Barbara Staudinger and Hannes Sulzenbacher are to be commended to doing a good job with a difficult subject. Texts are in both German and English. There is also a useful Digitorial (digital tutorial) on the exhibition’s website including excerpts of the film; an excellent use of modern media in conjunction with the exhibition. This is only in German; an English version would be welcome. The digitorial includes interesting excerpts from “The City without Jews”. Perhaps there will be an English version in due course.  One hour to 90 minutes is plenty to see everything. The link to the newly rediscovered film-version of The City Without Jews gives a topic that is not new an interesting and original aspect. I happened to be present when school classes (14 to 17 year olds) were led through the exhibition by guides from the Austrian Film Archives and they were not bored. I was pleased that the guides made clear that their comparisons of the mechanisms that played in 1938 against Jews and that are playing now against Muslims and other migrants do not mean that another Shoah is in the offing; only that certain patterns and mechanisms of exclusion and dehumanization can be recognised. In that way, young and old who visit the exhibition do not only learn about the history of their country and of film but by thinking about the methods used to set the in-group against vulnerable minorities can resist our innate tendencies to conform and develop our individual critical spirit which can help to resist this temptation. 

Perhaps a future exhibition can look at the problem from the other side: what strategies have been deployed by individuals and groups within minorities to prevent, combat or avoid being targeted by majorities and how successful were they? Is it a realistic goal to eliminate antisemitism and racism or is the best we can do to reduce harmful effects to a minimum? 

If you cannot make it to Vienna, the film “City without Jews”, will have its London premiere in November 2018 at the Barbican Cinema. 

https://www.filmarchiv.at/en/program/exhibition/die-stadt-ohne/

Poster of the Exhibition

Hugo Bettauer

John, Play by Annie Baker, National Theatre, Dorfman, London 9* out of 10

With "John", playwright Annie Baker (born 1981) confirms that she is a brilliant original voice in today’s American theatre. Mary Louise Burke is unforgettably brilliant as Mertis, the chatty self-effacing bed and breakfast host with flashes of depth. Because of its length of 3 hours 20 minutes "John" will appeal mostly to the more confirmed theatregoer.

Elias (Tom Mothersdale), a musician, and Jenny (Anneika Rose), a writer of questions for television quiz shows, are a couple in their late 20ies on their way back home to New York City from visiting Jenny’s parents in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Elias, who has a passion for American history has persuaded Jenny, who has other interests and says that she is not feeling all that well, to make a stopover in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. They have booked a stay in a quaint 19th century bed and breakfast, which is gothicly over-decorated with dolls and all kinds of kitschy paraphernalia. Their hosts are the chatty 72-year-old Mertis (Mary Louise Burke) and allegedly her husband who remains behind the scenes.

What follows is a series of conversations, punctuated by long silences and unexpected twists and turns from which we can glean that Jenny and Elias' (Asian-Jewish-neurotic-New York-hipster) relationship is going through a bit of an existential crisis.  Furthermore, there is more than meets the eye to Mertis and her blind friend Genevieve (June Watson). Moreover, the bed and breakfast with its bric-a-brac interior has somewhat of a life of its own.

Over 3 hours and 20 minutes not a lot happens on stage, but the conversations among the characters compelling and some indefinable threat hangs in the air as if things could seriously go off the rails at anytime. Conversations start with banal remarks and almost imperceptibly become in turn revealing, hilariously funny or moving in unexpected and entertaining ways.

On one level, “John” is classic sort of play telling a story with realistic characters. On another level, it is stunningly original in the way it makes the story unfold and with it our perceived understanding of the protagonists, their character traits and foibles. We watch like one listens in to conversations on the table next to us in a coffeehouse and is progressively drawn in, filling in the gaps with our imagination an exercise that is entertaining and rewarding.

The power of this production starts with the writing. After her success with her play "Flicks", the young playwright Annie Baker (born 1981) confirms that she is a brilliant original voice in today’s American theatre. In this production, the wonderful set (Chloe Lamford) and the great direction (James Macdonald), emphasising the physicality (movement, body-language) of the protagonists is perfectly attuned to the writing. As far as the character of Jenny is concerned, I imagine her more as Chinese or Korean-American and not South-East Asian American as the casting in this production implies; but all acting performances are of a high standard. June Watson’s disconcerting Genevieve is outstanding, Mary Louise Burke unforgettably brilliant as the chatty bed and breakfast host with flashes of depth. 

Because of its length of 3 hours 20 minutes, John is a play that will appeal mostly to the more confirmed theatregoer. But it is not overlong, every moment being valuable to the development of the characters and the plot and the potent silences are conducive to allowing the audiences to use their imagination and so play their part in making this production of “John” what it is: great theatre.

Playwright Annie Baker

Girl from the North Country, written and directed by Conor McPherson, music and lyrics by Bob Dylan, Noël Coward Theatre, London, 8* out of 10

Conor McPherson's "Girl from the North Country" is a play with music and rather than a musical. Just like good film-music, Bob Dylan’s songs underline the atmosphere of the play, pace the action and deepen the plays impact. The arrangements of the songs and their performance by the actors in this play are a joy to listen to.  Sheila Atim's magnetic singing performance and Shirley Henderson's compelling acting are outstanding.

Duluth- Minnesota 1934. The middle-aged couple Nick (Ciaran Hinds) and Elizabeth (Shirley Henderson) own a guest house. Since Elizabeth has descended into what appears to be early-onset dementia, Nick has lost control over the couple’s finances. Their son Gene (Sam Reid) and adopted daughter Marianne (Sheila Atim) still live at home. The other guests and visitors have been stranded there more or less temporarily by the vagaries of fate and the Great Depression that have shattered comfortable lives and American dreams. What remains, are attempts to preserve some dignity and make the best out of the hand life has dealt them. These are emotionally and physically awkward moves of individuals in existential crises to connect with another on a pragmatic, romantic or social level to reignite a sense of self-worth from which to build a future.

Without music, this play is a melodrama which reminds one of Tennessee Williams. Very watchable even if it doesn’t come up to that great writer’s level. By weaving judiciously selected Bob Dylan’s ballads into the action a special touch is added. With the help of a superbly talented cast of actors and singers this is carried off superbly. Sheila Atim shines with a magnetic singing performance, Shirley Henderson with compelling acting. 

This is a play with music and rather than a musical. Just like good film-music, Bob Dylan’s songs underline the atmosphere of the play, pace the action and deepen the plays impact. The arrangements of the songs and their performance by the actors in this play are a joy to listen to. The songs neither trivialize nor disrupt the play on the contrary. So, I did get over the slight pang of disappointment about Dylan’s son “Girl from the North Country” which gives this play its name is not actually being performed as part of the play, not even as a post play extra.

Having said this, “Girl from The North Country” has everything that makes a visit to the theatre in London a moving and uplifting experience. Direction, set and ensemble-acting are of a high standard and the song performances are at times stunningly beautiful. A great evening at the theatre.

https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/tickets/girl-from-the-north-country/

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Film, USA/UK (2017), written and directed by Martin McDonagh 10* out of 10

Martin Mc Donagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" manages to encapsulate the American Zeitgeist of the Trump-era and entertains us with edgy wit and explosive physicality. Brilliant dialogue powerfully drives the action through surprisingly perspective-shifting twists and turns.

Mildred Hayes (Frances Mac Dormand) is heartbroken about the rape and murder of her teenage daughter Angela. It has been 7 months since Angela has been murdered and it looks like the police in the little town of Ebbing Missouri have given up their search for Angela’s murderer. As Mildred’s heartbreak, has turned to white-hot anger she implements a plan to get Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), who is somewhat distracted with personal matters of life and death, to focus on finding Angela’s killer. It does not make her very popular with her small-town neighbours. Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell), who lives with his mother and is not god’s gift to subtle and intelligence police work is appalled by Mildred’s methods and is looking for non-too-subtle ways to make her stop.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a powerful film from the pen (keyboard) of the brilliant British/Irish writer Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) who also directs. This film manages to encapsulate the American Zeitgeist of the Trump-era and entertains us with edgy wit and explosive physicality. Brilliant dialogue  powerfully drives the action through surprisingly perspective-shifting twists and turns. The strong direction uses film-music that contrasts with the action and striking cinematography. Frances Mac Dormand and Woody Harrelson stand out and Sam Rockwell gives a brilliant performance. Three Billboards is the kind of film which will please fans of the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino, but it is very originally Martin McDonagh. 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is entertaining, dramatic, sad, funny, and thought provoking. The film amply deserves the many prizes, including the Oscars for which it has been nominated. Great contemporary cinema that has all the makings of a classic. Don’t miss it.

Martin McDonagh

Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle, Play, by Simon Stephens, Wyndhams Theatre, London, 7.5* out of 10

A surprisingly moving play brought to life by excellent acting performances in a superbly designed and perfectly lit set. 

The Christmas season is the appropriate time for fairy tales. The story of the relationship between Georgie (Anne-Marie Duff), an American woman of limited financial means in her early forties and Alex (Kenneth Cranham) a lonesome, cuddly bear of an intellectual butcher in his mid-seventies is a fairy tale for grown-ups. They meet, apparently by accident. Their respective backstories as well as their story together is revealed over 80 minutes in a series of vignettes of dialogue between them in which they discuss, argue and come close to each other romantically. In the process Georgie and Alex negotiate the terms and mutual expectations from their uneven relationship. Is it utilitarian, selfless, potentially romantic ever shifting, all of the above?

The dialogues contain some fine writing with philosophical and scientific speculation woven in. Used in the title of the play, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle from the weird and wonderful world of quantum physics states that it is impossible for an observer at any moment to determine both the location and the momentum of a subatomic particle. In this play the uncertainty principle serves principally as a metaphor for people and the relationships between them. We are sub-atomic particles passing in the night forming temporary bonds with each other. In the 18th century, The German  author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had used a similar metaphor from chemistry for more orderly pairings in his novel "Elective Affinities" (Die Wahlverwandtschaften). In the 21st century and thanks to quantum physics scientific and human affinities appear less predictable.    

What lifts this production of a pleasant, life-affirming play above the ordinary, are the excellent acting performances by Anne-Marie Duff and Kenneth Cranham, including the physics and chemistry between them; the superb set design by Bunny Christie perfectly lit by award- winning Paule Constable, that in its purity alludes to the world of quantum physics evoked in the play’s title where the space of the action expands and contracts, beds, benches and chairs appear and disappear with great precision; and finally, Marianne Elliott’s precise direction which brings set, lighting, actors and story together like a well-choreographed small hadron collider.

All in all, this surprisingly moving play about human connection and romance in unlikely places made for a very enjoyable evening in the theatre - not just for ageing nerds. 

*Runs at the Wyndhams Theatre in London through 6 January 2018.

Muhi – Generally Temporary, Documentary Film Israel/Germany (2017), by Rina Castelnuovo – Hollander and Tamir Elterman, 9* out of 10, screening organised by Zurich Human Rights Film Festival together with Omanut, Switzerland

Muhi - Generally Temporary is a must-see, uplifting documentary of the human spirit that tells important truths about ordinary people in Gaza, Israel and everywhere else on this conflict-prone planet who faced with challenging circumstances rise to accomplish the extraordinary. In showing this, the Castelnuovo - Hollander, Elterman and their team have themselves produced an extraordinary labour of love.

2014 Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel and Muhi, a 3-year old Palestinian boy from Gaza has been receiving treatment for a rare autoimmune disease since he was a baby. While waiting for a suitable bone-marrow donor Muhi has developed an infection. To save his life the doctors at Tel Hashomer had to amputate his arms below the elbow and his legs below his knee. He is now dependent on continuous care and treatment. Returning to Gaza would mean certain death because the treatment he needs cannot be administered there. The complex administrative arrangements between the Gaza administration run by Hamas, the officially recognized Palestinian administration run by Fatah and the Israeli administration run by the Israeli government are designed for short-term temporary care of humanitarian cases in Israeli hospitals. The term of Muhi’s generally temporary but specifically indefinite stay must therefore be temporarily extended for an indefinite period to keep him alive. As part of the arrangements between the Palestinian and Israeli governments a responsible adult above the age of 55 must accompany any children from Gaza receiving medical treatment in Israel. In the case of Muhi, the responsible adult is his maternal grandfather and patriarch of a large family in Gaza, Abu Naïm. In 2014 Abu Naïm has been at Muhi’s side at the hospital for more than three years. The administrative barriers for children from Gaza and their families to receiving treatment in Israel are high. Buma Inbar, an ordinary Israeli citizen in his fifties has dedicated himself to helping the families of Palestinian children needing treatment in Israeli hospitals with navigating the labyrinth of permits and procedures across the three bureaucracies involved. Over the years Buma and Abu Naïm have developed a true friendship based on mutual sympathy respect and appreciation. As we follow the extraordinarily courageous, funny and wise Muhi over the next three years of his life lived against the background of a very fraught political context, we recognize that his charming personality, which make him a joy and inspiration to those whose life he touches, is in large measure due to his extraordinary grandfather Abu Naïm who is in turn supported by his Israeli friend Buma.

With their longitudinal study resulting in a fly-on-the-wall documentary centring around Muhi, Castelnuovo-Hollander, Elterman and their teams in Israel and Gaza have captured extraordinary moments of love, tragedy and joy against a most difficult political and institutional context. 

Very few people would expect that a film about the relationship between Gazan Palestinians and Israeli Jews would be a powerful document of hope, friendship and love, the extraordinary fruit of which is a fantastic little boy with a wonderful potential. Abu Naïm, Buma and Muhi emanate a force-field of love, respect and humanity that draws in the people around them whether they want it or not. The merit of the film makers and their teams in Israel and Gaza is that they allow their audience to take part and become drawn in too. This is due also in no small part to the excellent editing by Joëlle Alexis. Perhaps the documentary could have been slightly shorter towards the end. Perhaps the subtitles could indicate better for audiences who cannot distinguish between Hebrew and Arabic, when Muhi and Abu Naïm speak Arabic and when Hebrew: paradoxically, yet inevitably, Muhi the Palestinian boy and his Palestinian grandfather speak to each other in Hebrew because this is the main language for Muhi who has been in an Israeli hospital since he was a baby. (Abu Naïm speaks a good Hebrew, because in his youth, before the political situation between Gaza and Israel deteriorated, he worked on building sites in Israel.) But these are minor points, that stand against an extraordinary achievement of documenting the strength of sheer humanity, friendship and love in the most difficult of circumstances.

Muhi- Generally Temporary is currently touring the international film-festival circuit and deservedly picks up award after award. It is a must-see, uplifting documentary of the human spirit that tells  important truths about ordinary people in Gaza, Israel and everywhere else on this conflict-prone planet who faced with challenging circumstances rise to accomplish the extraordinary. In showing this, the Castelnuovo - Hollander, Elterman and their team have themselves produced an extraordinary labour of love.

At one point in the film Abu Naïm is asked by Muhi’s father, who has 8 other children with his one wife, whether it would not be better to bring Muhi back to Gaza and submit to God’s will. What are the chances anyway that Muhi will grow up to be an adult?  “Yesh Tikvah” Abu Naïm says in Hebrew; there is always hope. Thanks to people like Abu Naïm, Buma Inbar and Muhi there truly is. 

http://medaliaproductions.com/portfolio-item/muhi/

Left to right: Abu Naïm, Muhi and Buma

The Ferryman, Play (2017), by Jez Butterworth, Gielgud Theatre, London 9* out of 10

The Ferryman embodies the strong writing, directing and performing for which it is worth to go to the theatre in London even if you come from far away. Great directing  of a 20 people cast by Sam Mendes.

It is 1981 in County Armagh Northern Ireland and the Carneys, an extended lively Irish-catholic family, are about to bring in the annual harvest on their farm. They are staunch republicans, former staunch republicans who were members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and some of them try not to get involved too much in the conflict. But the recent past is about to catch up with them and shatter the present accommodations of their family and social lives.

Jez Butterworth’s 2017 play is a great piece of storytelling about family, love, crime and politics. It is intelligent, witty and suspenseful, in turns, funny and moving. The Ferryman is theatre on a grand scale with a cast of more than 20 characters, a few of them children with substantial roles. The cast even includes a baby that last night when I saw the play accomplished its part with angelic brilliance. The entire cast is a joy to behold, jointly and severally. This is remarkable as the acclaimed cast from its original run at the Royal Court Theatre has been replaced by an all new one. There are outstanding performances from William Houston as Quinn Carney, head of the family, and Sarah Green as his brother’s wife Caitlin Carney. Director Sam Mendes has done an excellent job to avoid any dull moments in a play of about 3 hours. With the help of Mendes and the excellent cast, Butterworth moves deftly among the genres of crime thriller, family drama and mystical interludes.

If anything can be criticized, it is the accumulation of (Northern) Irish stereotypes, which may make this play less enjoyable for those who have lived in Northern Ireland during the troubles or still live there today.

But wherever you come, this is the strong writing, directing and performing for which it is worth to come to London and visit theatre here.

The Square, Film (2017), written and directed by Ruben Œstlund, 10* out of 10

Funny, intelligent, disturbing and thought-provoking, The Square fully deserves the Golden Palm it was awarded at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

Christian (Claes Bang) is the suave curator of a modern art museum in Sweden. When a generous donor makes possible the acquisition of a major new work called The Square. The Square, Christian decrees, will be a space where everyone is listened to, and in contrast to the outside world everyone can bring the wishes needs and demands and have them fulfilled. Christian uses his flair for effective communication strategies to attract the attention of the art critics in the international media to the new piece and he asks his media- team to come up with a provocative campaign. He also gives an interview to an American journalist Anne (Elisabeth Moss) and, after a party at the museum, the two spend the night together. When on the way to work one morning Christian’s phone, wallet and the cufflinks he got from his grandpa are stolen, the dark threat of a chaotic Hobbesian world begins to encroach on his life from outside the space of the museum, where he feels comfortably in control of the exhibits and performances he has selected to be shown.  But slowly the jungle out there threatens to uncomfortably impinge on Christian’s hipster existence.

Ruben Œstlund’s The Square is a masterpiece of writing and direction, that effortlessly switches among the genres of fly-on-the-wall-documentary, satirical mockumentary and socio-political drama. In a highly entertaining and suspenseful manner Œstlund focusses on the issue of trust in a society which is increasingly divided between privileged economically, socially and culturally comfortable leftish intellectuals and people, often with immigrant backgrounds, who are struggling to make ends meet and are in danger of becoming homeless or already living on the street. 

Funny, intelligent, disturbing and thought-provoking, The Square fully deserves the Golden Palm it was awarded at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Claes Bang is a credible and charismatic Christian (at times reminding us of the younger Pierce Brosnan when he played James Bond). Elisabeth Moss does a great job in her supporting role as the feisty American journalist Anne, who is ready to joust with him, at least in the private sphere. Terry Notary as the artist Oleg who is totally dedicated to his art-performance deserves a special mention.

For anyone interested in how modern art and modern western society interact and affect us, The Square is an exciting must see. 

       

Literary Festival Zürich Liest: Novel und Radio Play as Complementary Forms – Gila Lustiger’s social crime novel “Die Schuld der Anderen” – 8* out of 10

In 2016, Gila Lustiger’s first crime novel “Die Schuld der Anderen” remained on Der Spiegel’s bestseller-list for many weeks. It shows Lustiger as a sharp-eyed observer of French society. She is also a thoughtful and effective speaker. The novel has not (yet?) been published in English, but her excellent essay about France “We Are Not Afraid” which she wrote in the wake of the terrorist attacks of November 2015 in Paris has and is a great read.
      
On Saturday, 28 October 2017, as part of the “Zurich Liest” (Zurich reads) literary festival Omanut Switzerland (an organisation dedicated since 1941 to the furtherance of Jewish art and culture in Switzerland) organised its Thriller night by presenting a radio play based on the crime novel Die Schuld der Anderen (“The Guilt/Fault of the Others” would be the literal translation of the German title) by Gila Lustiger. This was followed by a tasty dinner, readings from the novel by the author, and a conversation led by Omanut’s Karen Roth with Gila Lustiger and Barbara Liebster, who has adapted the book for radio. 

The publication of the crime novel in Germany has a special history. It was launched on the day of the terrorist attacks in Paris which started at the Stade de France football stadium, continued at several bistros in the centre of the city and culminated in a massacre at the Bataclan concert venue. The novel’s vivid and accurate descriptions of the social context in France captured the attention of the reviewers. Its central plot, which is about cover-up of corporate malfeasance fell somewhat by the wayside. That even though the central plot, based on a true story, packed a considerable socioeconomic punch in its own right: in France, the state, business and the media are often unhealthily intertwined and very centralized within its capital’s bubble. But it was perhaps inevitable that Lustiger’s sharp observations of the underprivileged workers and youths with immigrant backgrounds in peripheral towns and the infamous “banlieues” grabbed the attention of German reviewers and readers. The novel spent many weeks the top ten of Der Spiegel’s bestseller list.

Barbara Liebster’s radio play adaptation, on the other hand, cuts to the chase of the novel’s central criminal plot which focuses on the family and elite university interconnectedness among the French Paris-centred elites with its revolving doors between civil service, political life and French corporations at the expense of factory workers.

“Die Schuld der Anderen” is Lustiger's first crime-novel. Lustiger, who grew up in Germany, daughter of one of the most prominent historians of the holocaust of which he was a survivor himself, has lived in France for more than two decades and raised a family there. She is herself an avid researcher of social phenomena that capture her imagination. For her novel, she travelled around France observing and speaking to people at all social levels. Lustiger also is an avid reader of social sciences and philosophical literature, which helps her put her observations she makes in the field into a sound intellectual framework. Finally, as a good social scientist and journalist with a certain amount of distance and irony, she is also an accurate observer of her own feelings and views when they are confronted with the individual destiny. So, whether it is a novel or an essay, her readers get the benefit of an intellectual journalist’s perspective on contemporary social phenomena.  

Lustiger spoke about her method of reading, making lists and visiting the real people in the real places, she also turns out to be a calm thoughtful and accurate explainer of the world around her.  She does this from the perspective of an outsider, but one who knows what she is Talking and writing about from the inside. She writes and speaks clearly, without jargon and without over-simplification. Gila Lustiger is self-assured in expressing her findings and views but thankfully without any of the arrogance of some of her male colleagues.

As the evening unfolded, it was therefore inevitable that the conversation quickly turned away from the question of the various literary forms of telling a story (, i.e. novel vs. radio play) to the political and social context of what is happening in the two countries that together are often wishfully described as the motor of the European Union, France and Germany. 

With hindsight, Gila Lustiger was so interesting as a speaker that one wished the evening would have contained more conversation. Attendees might have been given the option of listening to the radio play beforehand at home, on a train or in their car.  Having said that, it was a very interesting and stimulating evening including a tasty dinner and a sell-out event.

Die Schuld der Anderen has been translated into French and published by Actes Sud as “Les Insatiables”. It was well received by French reviewers. The novel has not been translated into English but other books by Gila Lustiger have, including the book-essay “We Are Not Afraid”, published by Notting Hill Editions, which was written under the impression of the terror attacks on Paris of 13 November 2015 but talks about the changes challenging French society and their impact on it in a clear-sighted, intelligent and readable way. 

An successful event, that made many of us attending discover Gila Lustiger as an excellent novelist and thoughtful observer of current societal developments in Europe and beyond.  

https://www.zuerich-liest.ch/veranstaltung/gila-lustigers-die-schuld-der-anderen--roman-und-hoerspiel-als-ergaenzende-formen/20171028180000/

Gila Lustiger

Pigumim (Scaffolding), Film, Israel/Poland (2017), written and directed by Matan Yaïr, 7.5* out of 10

The strengths of this award-winning Israeli film are the screenplay and the acting performances. The difficult and complex father-son relationship is poignant. The acting performances by Asher Lax as the irascible youth and Ya’acov Cohen as his hard-as-nails father stand out.

At the age of 19, Asher Lax (Asher Lax) is in his last year of high school. He is in a class for youths with behavioural problems and needs to pass his history and literature tests to leave school with at least a minimum of qualifications. Asher’s parents are divorced and he lives and works with his domineering father Milo (Ya’acov Cohen).  Milo owns a small company in the building trade. He is an ex-convict who sees life as a struggle for survival through hard physical work and a constant vigilance against others one cannot trust. His “jokes” are reflect his disappointment with his failed marriage. Milo seems as cold as ice and doing what he must do to survive and trying to inculcate his philosophy into his only son. Asher is accepting and even submissive towards his tough and sometimes violent father, who makes no secret that he sees no value in formal education and qualifications. At school, Asher is prone to disruptive behaviour and violent outbursts. When Rami (Ami Smolartchik) a dedicated, frustrated and sensitive man – in everything the opposite of Asher’s father - begins to teach Asher’s class in history and literature, he manages to make a connection to Asher and the other difficult youths. But then Asher comes under additional pressure, when his father goes to hospital for cardiac surgery and leaves him in charge of the business. Things take a dramatic turn that will test Asher to breaking point.

The strengths of this award-winning Israeli film are the screenplay and the acting performances. The difficult and complex father-son relationship is poignant. The acting performances by Asher Lax and Ya’acov Cohen as his hard-as-nails father stand out. The drama which could have easily taken the path of redemption by the “right” kind of teacher is grittier and more challenging than that. These strengths outweigh the weaknesses in the film’s cinematography. 

This is writer director Matan Yaïr’s first feature film. He wrote and produced during his sabbatical year in his teaching job. Asher Laks was one of his students in real-life and together with seeing the young Robert de Niro in films like Taxi Driver, inspired Matan to write his screen-play. He approached Laks to see whether he could play a character like his real-life self on screen. So, the story of the making of Scaffolding would yield a good screen-play, too. Matan Yaïr has now returned to teaching and one can only wish that making this thoughtful and thought-provoking film has helped him to build up the resilience he needs to live with the frustrations and challenges of his day-job.

Film-making is a truly international business these days. The Polish producers who recognized the universality of the themes of this film and were not deterred by its being clearly situated in Israeli society and its education system are to be congratulated for their courage. The positive reception of “Scaffolding” at the Toronto and Zurich Film Festivals is their just reward. "Scaffolding" can be seen in London in November at the 2017 UK Jewish Film Festival.

https://zff.com/en/archive/18223/

Asher (right) and his teacher Rami