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Exposing the subtleties of anti-Semitism
ND film festival unmasks ongoing heritage of hate
INTERMISSION: THEATER & DANCE
JEREMY D. BONFIGLIO
Tribune Staff Writer
Alvy Singer is Jewish. Annie Hall is not. There's a moment in Woody
Allen's 1977 film when he shows the audience what that means.
Sitting meekly at the dinner table in Chippewa Falls, Wis., Allen's
character feels so out of place among the middle-class Hall family
that he has a flash transformation into a bearded orthodox Hasidic
rabbi -- the worst image Grammy Hall (Annie's anti-Semitic grandmother)
could conjure up. After all, Allen says in the film, she's a "classic
Jew hater."
"He looks at anti-Semitism with humor," University of
Notre Dame performing arts director John Haynes says, "but
there's almost no piece of Woody Allen's work where being Jewish
isn't a factor."
Allen's Academy Award-winning picture is one of seven films that
will be shown during Spring ArtsFest, which begins Tuesday at the
DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts. This year's series, "Shylock:
A Heritage of Hate," also will include two theatrical performances
and a panel discussion that examines anti-Semitism in our culture.
"If you ask most people if they're anti-Semitic, they'll say
no way," Haynes says, "but I can't tell you how many of
those people make a little comment that betrays a certain prejudice."
In addition to "Annie Hall," Notre Dame will screen "The
Harmonists" (1997), "Chariots of Fire" (1981), "Protocols
of Zion" (2005), "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947),
"The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg" (1999) and "Liberty
Heights" (1999).
"We wanted to choose films that aren't what we usually think
about when we're talking about Jewish issues in the cinema,"
Notre Dame film, television and theatre department chair Peter Holland
says. "This isn't a group of films about the Holocaust."
In fact, the Holocaust was purposely omitted for this particular
academic exploration.
"I wanted to focus more on everyday life as a Jew," Haynes
says. "What would you see? What comments would be made by someone
who didn't think you were Jewish? That, for most Jews I suspect,
is a daily aspect of their existence."
Balancing the humor of Allen's relationship post-mortem is the
subtle sadness of Elia Kazan's "Gentlemen's Agreement."
Adapted from Laura Z. Hobson's novel, "Gentleman's Agreement"
stars Gregory Peck as Phil Green, a journalist who takes a magazine
publisher's invitation to write a series of articles on anti-Semitism.
To experience all manner of prejudice, Green decides to pose as
a Jew, and then encounters that gentlemen's agreement.
"It's that reservation that's lost or the hotel that's suddenly
booked," Haynes says.
Haynes decided on the theme for this year's festival after learning
that Actors From the London Stage would be performing Shakespeare's
"The Merchant of Venice," the backbone of this year's
festival.
"In talking about ('Merchant of Venice')," Haynes says,
"it struck me that it raises a lot of interesting questions
about what it means to be Jewish in a Christian world. There was
an opportunity to explore that."
Haynes then booked Gareth Armstrong of the Royal Shakespeare Company
to reprise his one-man play "Shylock," based on the much-vilified
"Merchant of Venice" character.
"The role of Shylock has always been played with the exaggerated
features of anti-Semitism," Haynes says. "Gareth's show
is almost an artist's meditation of that portrayal."
Notre Dame faculty members Graham Hammill, Henry Weinfield, Michael
Zuckert, Jesse Lander and Holland will join Armstrong in a panel
discussion titled "Engaging 'The Merchant of Venice': Academic
Freedom and Anti-Semitism" on Tuesday to kick off the event.
Holland, who's Jewish, says he's looking forward to discussing
ant-Semitism in all its forms.
"I've been fortunate to have encountered very little anti-Semitism,"
Holland says, "but there are odd moments where someone tells
a joke that I don't find very funny."
He pauses, then adds, "In fact, most of the Jews I know aren't
rich, and they don't pinch pennies. That's just not who they are."
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