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12/06/05
The Komediant (2002)
88 %
Reviews Counted: 25 Fresh: 22 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 6.9/10
Runtime: 85 mins
Synopsis: The glory days of the Yiddish stage are brought to life in this bittersweet saga of a legendary theatrical family, the Bursteins. Pesach’ke Burstein, the dancing-singing comedian, was born in a small Jewish town in Poland in the late 19 th century. Drawn to the disreputable profession of... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Pesach'ke Burstein, Lillian Lux, Mike Burstyn, Susan Berstein-Roth, Fyvush Finkel
Director: Arnon Goldfinger
Screenwriter: Oshra Schwartz
Producer: Amir Harel, Oshra Schwartz, Arnon Goldfinger
Screenwriter: Oshra Schwartz
Producer: Amir Harel, Oshra Schwartz, Arnon Goldfinger
Reviews
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03/10/03
... a light, yet engrossing piece. Lux, now in her eighties, does a great combination act as narrator, Jewish grandmother and subject – taking us through a film that is part biography, part entertainment and part history.
11/30/02
A sharp and quick documentary that is funny and pithy, while illuminating an era of theatrical comedy that, while past, really isn't.
06/05/02
Top Critic
This rich, bittersweet Israeli documentary, about the life of song-and-dance-man Pasach'ke Burstein and his family, transcends ethnic lines.
05/23/02
It's their familial ups and downs that shift this small, stubbornly poignant documentary ... from the realm of special-interest audiences to the more universal theater of family psychodynamics.
04/11/02
What might have been a predictably heartwarming tale is suffused with complexity.
04/10/02
Top Critic
Alas, the black-and-white archival footage of their act showcases pretty mediocre shtick.
04/05/02
Makes one thing abundantly clear. American musical comedy as we know it wouldn't exist without the precedent of Yiddish theater, whose jolly, fun-for-fun's-sake communal spirit goes to the essence of Broadway.
04/04/02
Top Critic
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