by Dmitriy Tyotkin
It is hard to be writing about “Jewishness” while not being Jewish. It is especially hard to write about the ultra-Orthodox. What makes it difficult is both “political correctness” and the “ethical” reasons (not to forget about the Penal Code), as well as elementary illiteracy in this matter. After all, this is a separate and quite a complex world. Attempts to clarify something, with the help of expert friends, bring to even more confusion. What are red cows? What are sacrificial hens? What are hundreds of important commandments? Do they have any order? The gas burners in kitchens are never turned off and elevators travel up and down non-stop on Saturdays. This can all be understood. But why do some Hasidim consider others sectarian? Who is right? Everyone is. Nonetheless, our task is to find a proper way of writing about the scandalous series. What does the scandal consist of? Not the least, in its talent.
Above all, it consists in the fact that the creators have brilliantly caught the Zeitgeist, the "spirit of the age", "the pulse of the moment", "the knock of fate" – and have wrapped it up in a form accessible to the masses. The series has developed from an autobiographical book of a woman from an American community, published in English. The novel tells us a story of how she refused the religious dogma and gradually became happy and free. She is Jewish. She can write anything. Almost anything. The book became an ultra-best-seller.
Subsequently the text was swiftly adapted into a film. Although the filmmakers acknowledge that “the life of the heroine after the escape” has been almost entirely made up, the plot was worth the addition. The getaway of a young Jewish girl to Berlin from an oppressive Jewish lockdown is shown to be done for the sake of finding her own ‘voice’, as well as happiness in personal life through the relationship with an Aryan. Already, at this point, the plot is guaranteed to be successful. Already in its inception. It is not bad at all. Ignited critical debates are to be expected in every cafe. Things are further heated up by the context of “trauma”, “catastrophe”, “Post-Colonialism”, “Neo-Nazism”. The only thing the film does not dedicate a word to is, obviously, Zionism. Save for one accidental joke.
It is worth emphasizing here that the series is indeed a very talented piece of work. We are presented with the well-known and dense action, sometimes sliding into a melodrama with nonsugarcoated snot and tears. I have almost bursted into tears myself on the scene of the Payot being shaved off for the sake of love. Other times this is all translated into what seems a crime story (with undercover guise mission). In this, a healthy portion of cute
comedic moments are diluted. A fantastic work is done in the pursuit of the right atmosphere. The characteristic features and details of the Chassidic household were restored with the help of the actor who played a rabbi, and who acted as a consultant at the same time. On the whole, the actors (especially the main cast) can almost be said to be playing themselves – and they pull it off well, by the TV series production standards. There is fragility, vulnerability, and the inability to fit into the normal world. Not to mention the eternal attempts of finding oneself, as well as the almost physiological charm of youth. The film is well balanced, and if only a little more truth and sympathy had been added on a scale of the “bad ultra-Orthodox” side, it could have been called a masterpiece. As for now, it is yet another song of the "triumphant liberalism”. Sharp corners are skillfully smoothed and whitewashed. Apparently, it allows for being extended for another couple of seasons.
The series can be safely recommended. Here you will find Mezuzahs and Lapserdaks, within their proper surroundings. A close-up of Matzah is perhaps the only thing missing. At times it almost comes close to visual anthropology. At the same time, there are many “Non-Kosher” elements in characters and situations. Constant attempts to find "cinematographic" solutions. For example, the “wig scene” on the lake is almost borderline kitsch. Now, to summarize the formal flaws of the series, the main one is the kind of stylistic “vanilla” and “naked precision”. It is easy to imagine how the scriptwriters were formatting the plot lines in neat graphics. Everything seems to be done for the truth of life’s sake. Say, Russian cleaners and prostitutes in Berlin. Strangely enough, no Russian musicians nor soldiers are featured. To cut it short - the truth of life as an open book. Social cinema. Job hunting. All is in there. Though the music in the film is infinitely illustrative. Neither the bottom-line philosophy is too complicated. Feel free to formulate it yourself.
Alternated are two narrative times: the story of the recent past and the present getaway. Plus, little hints at the "distant past" of the wartime period. The director’s inspiration, as it were, insists on "realism". Although the creators themselves admit that the idealistic "multicultural" orchestra in the conservatory, where Arabs and Jews are playing German music, was made up. ‘Fresh is the story, yet it is doubtful to me’.[1] In Berlin, all is calm. Lesbians and homosexuals and other Burqa wearing individuals. Multiculturalism as it is. Everyone is free, as long as they pay taxes. And comply with the visa regime… and watch TV shows.
The non-trivial directorial choices, by and large, go down to the abundant use of associative editing. Constructing junctions between episodes. An example, a set of adjacent episodes: while the Orthodox are setting up for prayer, the escapee, in another setting, is dressing up in secular denim (a suggestive icon of mass culture in itself)... or a stroll through the cemetery, edited next to receiving the news of a long-awaited pregnancy. Life and death. On top of that, as the law prescribes, episodes inevitably end in the best suited for it plot "points". On the whole, compositionally and narratively, we have before us an outstanding work. The film contains no vulgarity, at least not in the literal sense of the word. If we are to find any, it is rather a worldview vulgarity, averagely politically correct, very “European”, a universal one, as it were. In the spirit of children’s books. Meaning that it has no counter indicators for family watching. For large-patriarchal-family watching. Providing, of course, your children are old enough to see same-sex kissing. Perhaps it is not impossible to compare it with some classic TV shows - if only you can remember any.
Irrespectively of your convictions and creed, the film is definitely worth watching. Especially since Netflix is not too expensive. Cheaper than freedom - if all of a sudden you know whom to escape and where to run.
Originally published: Дмитрий Тёткин. Берлин Обетованный. Возвращение евреев
[1] Russian idiom deriving from A. Griboedov's classic comedy Woe and Wit, bearing meaning: it is difficult to believe that the event has actually happened.