Or does he? I could think about this film forever, and I probably will from time to time, for the rest of my life. There is the strength of it. If nothing else, this feature documentary makes you really think about why you would ask someone, "Are you Jewish?" I've asked people, and it makes them bristle. I've been asked a lot myself. There are never any consequences to the answer yes or no, so does it change how we think of someone if we know they are Jewish?
Jamie Kastner goes around the world begging people to ask him. He starts getting a bit fed up with humanity in Germany, where memorials to holocaust victims abound. His rather dry tone gets rather drier. On to Krakow, where restaurants called Alef and Ariel serve matzo ball soup to tourists on a Friday night. The waiter admits that the reason the restaurant is open on a Friday night is that the owner is not Jewish. Jamie appears to crack and starts asking the question himself. Is the quartet Jewish? No. Jamie spits the dummy and cynically head over to Bagel Mama. It seems a little more kosher, but still Jamie isn't happy. Will anything please him?
In Krakow, he asks someone else if they are Jewish. I don't want to spoil the surprise here, but the answer affects a financial transaction between Jamie and the other party. Does it matter if you are Jewish or not? I'm confused.
By Auchwitz, Jamie has lost all his mirth. He criticizes the tourists, walking around looking 'dutifully mournful' in their 'hipster outfits' (not looking too shabby yourself there Jamie). He picks a fight with his film-crew, arguing that he doesn't need to go and look at the oven etc. Angry, and not feeling the need to prove his disgust with the Holocaust, Jamie leaves Auchwitz, with the camera following him out the gates.
Oh, I just remembered that there is a hot-dog stand on the way in to the camp. Jamie buys one, and comments that the camp could have done with one during the war. (I suppose, if they were kosher hot-dogs.)
I get it. Jewishness, and the Holocaust are not commodities. But is that all this film was about? I came away with much more.
Jamie Kastner goes around the world begging people to ask him. He starts getting a bit fed up with humanity in Germany, where memorials to holocaust victims abound. His rather dry tone gets rather drier. On to Krakow, where restaurants called Alef and Ariel serve matzo ball soup to tourists on a Friday night. The waiter admits that the reason the restaurant is open on a Friday night is that the owner is not Jewish. Jamie appears to crack and starts asking the question himself. Is the quartet Jewish? No. Jamie spits the dummy and cynically head over to Bagel Mama. It seems a little more kosher, but still Jamie isn't happy. Will anything please him?
In Krakow, he asks someone else if they are Jewish. I don't want to spoil the surprise here, but the answer affects a financial transaction between Jamie and the other party. Does it matter if you are Jewish or not? I'm confused.
By Auchwitz, Jamie has lost all his mirth. He criticizes the tourists, walking around looking 'dutifully mournful' in their 'hipster outfits' (not looking too shabby yourself there Jamie). He picks a fight with his film-crew, arguing that he doesn't need to go and look at the oven etc. Angry, and not feeling the need to prove his disgust with the Holocaust, Jamie leaves Auchwitz, with the camera following him out the gates.
Oh, I just remembered that there is a hot-dog stand on the way in to the camp. Jamie buys one, and comments that the camp could have done with one during the war. (I suppose, if they were kosher hot-dogs.)
I get it. Jewishness, and the Holocaust are not commodities. But is that all this film was about? I came away with much more.