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JEWISH WOMEN: ENCOUNTERING CHANGE
SELECTED FILMS
East
and West (1923)
A silent comedy made in Vienna in 1923, this film takes a satirical
look at the clash between the traditional Old World of Eastern Europe
and the carefree modern ways of the West, particularly as each regarded
appropriate female behavior. It is the earliest extant film with
the great Yiddish actress Molly Picon.
Marjorie
Morningstar (1958)
A powerful romance leads a bright and beautiful young Jewish woman,
the daughter of upwardly mobile parents in 1930s Manhattan, to question
her lifestyle and values.
The
Way We Were (1973)
The relationship of a Jewish political activist and a handsome,
talented gentile (played by Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford)
who first meet and compete in college. Set against the background
of World War II and the McCarthy Era, this is a love story where
fundamental values get in the way.
Yentl
(1983)
Based on the story by Isaac Bashevis Singer and directed by and
starring Barbara Streisand, this is a story of a Jewish girl who
masquerades as a boy in order to gain admittance to a yeshiva where
she can study Torah. By so doing, she upsets conventional assumptions
about men's and women's roles and their needs for spiritual and
intellectual sustenance.
Crossing
Delancey (1988)
Izzy Grossman is a young single woman caught between the allure
of a man from the literary uptown world she lives and works in and
the simpler charms of a pickle merchant who hails from the Lower
East Side world of her beloved grandmother.
Driving
Miss Daisy (1989)
Winner of an Academy Award for Best Picture, this film provides
an unusual view of race relations in the Deep South through the
touching story of a wealthy Jewish widow and her black chauffeur.
It covers a period of 25 years, culminating in the Civil Rights
movement.
The
Imported Bridegroom (1989)
Based on a story by Abraham Cahan, this poignant and funny film
of an immigrant who made good, his ambitious daughter and a yeshiva
student provides a memorable view of the immigrant experience at
the turn of the century.
Jewish
Women Introduction
Discussion
Questions
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