NYJFF ’14: Friends from France

As a matter of policy, the Soviets automatically denied all requests from the so-called “Refuseniks” to immigrate to Israel, often spuriously claiming they were irreplaceable specialists (who were then duly fired from their positions).  As it happens, Victor Rybak really is a highly respected authority in the field of physics, much like Sakharov.  His uphill battle to join his wife in Israel will profoundly affect two young French cousins in Anne Weil & Philippe Kotlarski’s Friends from France (trailer here), the opening night selection of the 2014 New York Jewish Film Festival, co-presented by the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Carole Brikerman is a passionate Zionist, who supports the Refuseniks’ aspirations for Israel.  Jérôme Berkowitz is passionate about his cousin Brikerman. Despite his mixed feelings, Berkowitz joins his cousin on a leftist guided tour of Odessa.  Pretending to be newlyweds, they will secretly visit Jewish dissidents, bringing smuggled care packages and offering moral support.  Berkowitz resents what he considers Brikerman’s Zionist proselytizing, while struggling with his arousal from their intimate proximity.  However, when they pay a call on Rybak, Berokwitz meets someone far more cynical than himself.

Rybak has good reason to be jaded.  He endured constant torture in a Communist mental hospital, intended to force him to denounce his beloved wife, who had successfully reached Israel ahead of him. While imprisoned, he secretly maintained a diary.  Not only did he document the systemized abuse and summary executions, he also included deeply personal passages of erotic longing, meant solely for her eyes.

Even in translated subtitles, the words of Rybak’s diary ring with truth and poetry.  They are easily the most compelling element of Weil & Kotlarski’s screenplay.  It is easy to understand why Brikerman’s network would want to publish it and why the Soviets would be determined to prevent such an embarrassment. They also open a deep window into the Refusenik physicist’s soul.  For all his exterior gruffness, Rybak is a haunted romantic at heart.

Vladimir Fridman is simply extraordinary as Rybak.  It is an acutely human and humane portrayal, conveying all his messy complications and understandable bitterness.  It is only January, but Fridman’s work should be noted for year-end lists. He instills Friends with power and integrity whenever he is on-screen.

In contrast, Soko and Jérémie Lippmann simply are not in the same league.  Still, much like his character, Lippmann slowly sneaks up on viewers, developing a distinct presence and persona down the stretch.  Evidently, Soko is France’s current “It Girl,” so it is nice she wants to appear in a film like this.  At least she is more engaging than in the grossly over-rated Augustine.  She does not undermine any of the proceedings, but it is hard to see her in the way other characters do.

Weil & Kotlarski vividly capture oppressive vibe of Communist era Odessa.  At times Friends functions as a surprisingly good Cold War thriller. It probably holds some sort of distinction as a film noticeably critical of both the Soviet Union and the Zionist movement.  Yet, its sharpest, most illuminating observations involve the hypocrisy of the leftwing tourists.  Ostensibly on a personal mission of solidarity, they are clearly fearful of the Party’s apparatus of control—with very good reason.  Smart, literate, and sometimes quite moving, Friends from France is a strong way to open this year’s NYJFF.  Highly recommended, it screens twice this coming Wednesday (1/8) at the Walter Reade Theater.

Slava Tsukerman’s Perestroika

Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Greenberg is one of the leading authorities on the structure of the universe, but it is increasingly difficult for him to structure his own life. As for how Russia’s future would take shape, it was anyone’s guess in the pivotal year of 1992. Seeking some answers in his own life, the former Refusenik scientist returns to the city of his birth in Slava Tsukerman’s Perestroika (trailer here), which opens in New York this Friday.

Returning to Moscow after the fall of Communism, much appears to have changed for the better—at least to extent. During a tour, the owner of a television studio tells Greenberg: “sex and Jews are our two most popular subjects today. Everyone wants to film what used to be forbidden.” However, opinions vary widely among Greenberg’s old friends about the prospects for post-Soviet life. Some support Yeltsin, while others are deeply skeptical. Some acquaintances put their hopes in democratic capitalism, while a few actually advocate a return to authoritarian rule. For his part, Greenberg just wants a drink.

Greenberg is experiencing the homecoming his mentor, American defector Prof. Henry Gross, thought would be impossible. He finds himself a celebrity, mobbed by people he hardly remembers, in a surreal reunion. Though it is all smiles now, not all of his memories are pleasant, as when Gross denounced him in class for applying for immigration.

Perestroika is named after Gorbachev’s “restructuring” policies, rather than Glasnost, his so-called “openness” policies of the same era. Indeed, structure is a critical issue for Greenberg. If he changes his life, will he only replace pieces, perhaps trading his frequently estranged wife for his younger mistress? Likewise, will the Russians exchange the yoke of Communism for another dictatorship? (Sadly, in retrospect, this appears to be the case).

Like Greenberg, Tsukerman was also a Refusenik who ultimately immigrated to New York by way of Israel. He is best known for the radically different Liquid Sky, but he displays an equally distinctive visual approach in Perestroika. Blending cosmic animation, archival documentary footage, intentionally obvious use of blue-screen photography, and highly stylized visions of Moscow, Perestroika is not exactly an exercise is socialist realism. It is reflective of Greenberg’s deep but disorderly thoughts.

In Perestroika, characters often talk in metaphors. While it runs the risk of sounding pretentious, it is often fascinating, particularly during key conversations between Greenberg and his old mentor. Though Sam Robards’ accent might be a bit spotty, he conveys both a believable world-weariness and even a genuine likability as the prodigal Greenberg. As the erudite Gross, Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham is perfectly cast, capturing his disarming charm, while spinning out advanced scientific concepts with ease.

Perestroika is surprisingly fast-paced, considering it is driven by ideas and dialogue. Despite its rather abrupt conclusion, it is a smart, challenging picture that brings considerable insight to bear on very recent Russian-Soviet history. Perestroika opens this Friday in New York at the Cinema Village.

Refusenik: Opening Victory Day (5/9)

The words “Next Year in Jerusalem” have always been rich with meaning but for Soviet Jewry, they took on even greater significance during the stark years of Communist oppression. Soviet Jews who dared to apply for exit visas were dismissed from their employment, harassed by the KGB, and often imprisoned or exiled to Siberian. Filmmaker Laura Bialis documents the inspiring story of the so-called Refuseniks in the new film Refusenik, which opens in New York May 9th.

The film starts with a quick and lucid recounting of Soviet anti-Semitism, ranging from discrimination in university admissions to Stalin’s Doctors’ Plot, the invented conspiracy used as a pretext to persecute Jewish doctors. Although Stalin was an initial supporter of the State of Israel, anti-Semitism would become systematized to such an extent during the Stalin years that many were honestly expecting to be swept up in another Holocaust.

Called a “renaissance of hope,” by historian Sir Martin Gilbert, Refusenik identifies the stunning Israeli victory in the Six Days War as a pivotal moment for Refuseniks. Israel’s battlefield triumph, despite all Soviet state media predictions to the contrary, provided an inspiration and a hoped for destination.

As a matter of course, the Soviets denied all emigration requests, often on the pretext of the applicant being an important specialist. Then these irreplaceable specialists were summarily fired, forced to live uncertain hand-to-mouth existences. Yet an extraordinary refrain is repeated by many of the Refuseniks Bialis interviews. Regardless of the desperate circumstances they faced as a result, they never regretted their actions, because it was through their defiance of the Soviets that they first felt free.

Perhaps the most celebrated Refusenik, Natan Sharansky is one of the film’s lead voices. His story is nothing less than heroic, having served nine years in a Soviet prison on trumped up charges. However, some of the lesser known Refuseniks are equally remarkable. Vladimir Slepak was actually the son of a loyal party member, but when told by his father it was preferable to arrest one hundred innocent people rather than allow one enemy of the party to go free, his response was: “I’ll never be in your party. It’s too much blood on your hands.”

Refusenik also chronicles the worldwide movement on behalf of Soviet Jewry, and is laudably bipartisan in who it credits in the struggle. The passage of the Jackson-Vanick amendment requiring countries observe emigration rights to qualify for favored nation trading status is presented as a principled coalition of liberal and conservative congressional representatives over a détente-obsessed Nixon administration.

Of American political leaders, two stand above all others. One is a Democrat, Sen. Scoop Jackson. The other is a Republican: Pres. Ronald Reagan. It is clear from interviews that he made Soviet human rights a priority like none of his predecessors had before him. It is not just summit anecdotes from George Shultz that make the point.

Refusenik Ari Volvovsky tells a story that powerfully illustrates Reagan’s commitment. While serving his sentence in a prison camp, Volvovsky was called into the commandant’s office and asked if he was friends with the American president. He was then shown a letter from Reagan to Gorbachev pressing for his release. Probably Gorbachev’s reputation will suffer most from the film, as it is made clear he resisted releasing the Refuseniks and actually tells his interviewer: “Many of them were my friends.” Right, some of his best friends were Refuseniks.