Divan (2003)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Pearl Gluck

Writers:

Pearl Gluck (writer)
Susan Korda (co-writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Everyone has a couch. Not everyone has a couch with a story like this.

Plot:

Divan is the quest for a turn of the century Hungarian couch upon which Hassidic rabbis slept.

Plot Keywords:

Couch | Hungarian | Tradition | Jewish | Yiddish

Cast

Pearl Gluck	...	Herself - Narrator
Amichai Lau Lavie	...	Himself
Basya Schechter	...	Herself
Giti Koenig	...	Herself
Isaac Stein	...	Himself
Jeanette Friedman	...	Herself
Louis Farkowitz	...	Himself
Mark Joseph Altman	...	Himself
Michelle Miller	...	Herself
Pessy Sloan	...	Herself
Bruriah Sloan	...	Herself
Rosalie Osian	...	Herself
Sarah Cecilie Finkelstein	...	Herself
Yermiyahu Ahron Taub	...	Himself
Malke Feldman	...	Herself - My Great Aunt

Also Known As:

A divany (Hungary)

Runtime:

90 min | Hong Kong:77 min

Country:

USA | Hungary | Israel | Ukraine

Language:

English | Hungarian | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Palinka Pictures

Hilarious, Unique, Moving

At the High Falls Film Festival I had the privilege to see "Divan." Divan, in Yiddish means "couch" The film is a documentary of the filmmaker, Pearl Gluck, as she goes to Hungary to reacquire a couch that is treasured in her family, who believe very important figures in the Jewish community slept on it. I think this film has high production value, feels down-to-earth, and was well-written (narration, etc.). It is an interesting journey across Eastern Europe in search of a couch that also serves as a way for this extraordinary (Fullbright scholar) woman to connect back to her family's roots.

You don't need to be Jewish to understand the message or the humor. There was relative after relative in Hungary who, after finding Pearl was almost 30 and unmarried, immediately would offer to matchmake (`Do you want to marry a rabbi?'). We in the audience knew that Pearl wasn't for the old ways (she explained that most Hassidic women are married at age 18). Pearl also sneaks videocameras into holy ceremonies and gets caught and stopped nearly every time. Sometimes I felt like it was `The Tom Green Show' or something. She provides narration that creatively compares the experience of seeing a famous Hassidic rabbi to seeing a rock star (and in doing so, does truly help us understand the Hassidic culture better). Pearl's friends are also on tap with hilarious stories of their own about Hassidism and remarks about the couch. I recommend this wonderful movie.