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By D. Benjamin Wickowitz Nov 2, 2009

Dyspeptic and deeply sacrilegious, the Coen Brothers' latest is also reliably funny and brilliantly surreal. A ludicrous fable of Biblical proportions, the movie nonetheless oozes verisimilitude, a credit to the manifold talents of the auteur brothers behind it and their virtual Yiddish theater of a cast.

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen at The Times BFI London Film Festival.

Michael Stuhlbarg’s mensch in the middle anchors the movie. Playing a serious man isn’t a stretch for this serious stage actor – he played Hamlet opposite Sam Waterston’s Polonius in New York’s Shakespeare in the Park series, to cite just one credit. His screen career has mostly involved guest spots on TV dramas. One suspects that’s about to change.

***

The Coen Brothers were Bar Mitzvah age in the era their film depicts, thus explaining its adolescently autobiographical feel. Given their familiarity with the terrain and their manifold gifts as filmmakers, they amply succeed in nailing more than a few Jewish traits – first rate minds, family centeredness, ritual – albeit presenting them in a harsh, unflattering light.

Of course, their depiction of Koreans and Goyim is hardly more flattering, a fact that will no doubt be lost on those who see this film as Jewish self-hatred elevated to art. In fact it is misanthropy elevated to art.

Much more on the film and the full review at WikPik.

(Image: WENN)

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