The Komediant (2000)

A documentary on the life and career of Yiddish actor Pesach Burstein and his family.

Director:

Arnon Goldfinger

Writer:

Oshra Schwartz

Stars:

Pesach Burstein, Lillian Lux, Mike Burstyn

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Pesach Burstein	...	Self (archive footage)
Lillian Lux	...	Self (as Lillian Burstein Lux)
Mike Burstyn	...	Self
Susan Burstein-Roth	...	Self (as Susan Burstein Roth)
Fyvush Finkel	...	Self (as Fivush Finkel)
Shifra Lerer	...	Self
Nahma Sandrow	...	Self (as Nahama Sandrow)
Mina Bern	...	Self
Seymour Rechzeit	...	Self (as Seymuor Rechtzeit)
Israel Becker	...	Self
Mordechai Tsanin	...	Self
Bruce Adler	...	Self
Michael Roth	...	Self

Storyline

A documentary on the life and career of Yiddish actor Pesach Burstein and his family.

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Plot Keywords:

yiddish theater | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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User Reviews

Priceless trove of Yiddish show biz

I neither have the knowledge nor any reason to disagree with the careful, detailed comment above (or is it below) as to the mediocrity of most of this family's material, or any of the rest of the comment. I would simply say while interesting to know, the criticism is no reason at all not to see this movie. There just isn't that much easily accessible film on Yiddish or Jewish show biz, outside of some theatrical movies kicking around out there but not in Blockbusters. I worked in the Catskills in the summers of 1957 and 1958 and to me there is no subcategory of schlock (cheaply made) within Yiddish entertainment. It's all good, the good and the not so good, at least now that it's hardly available. Critical distinctions don't matter at this point, and certainly should not to younger people who are unfamiliar with but curious about the Yiddish genre. Sure, there were better actors and mediocre actors, better plays and unoriginal skits, performers with originality and marginal journeymen just able to earn enough to eat, and I say so what? See this film and get a taste of the unfamiliar. You probably have seen enough crap from Hollywood to last a life time and gotten nothing out of it; with The Komediant you'll at least see something different, a world of show biz that at one time was huge and now is mostly a memory.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew English Yiddish

Release Date:

27 April 2000 (Israel)

Also Known As:

The Comedians

Box Office

Gross USA:

$119,506

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$119,506

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lama Films, Lama Productions, Zebra Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color