Trembling Before G-d

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CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Trembling Before G-d </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B>  </B> ( Not Rated ) </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By Cathy Edsey Collins</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="575" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>A Poignant Documentary</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Director: Sandi Simcha DuBowski</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Running Time: 84 minutes</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Orthodox Judaism and homosexuality collide head-on in this unprecedented documentary that examines the religious turmoil among gays who want to practice their faith but are outcast for their sexual lifestyle. (Note: the title's omission of the letter "o" in the word "God" is a traditional show of respect by Jews.)</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Filmed over five years in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Jerusalem, London, Miami and San Francisco, "Trembling Before G-d" focuses on a diverse group of gay and lesbians whose lives have been upended by the moral and emotionally retching quandary of attempting to live with their religion's Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality.</div> <bR> <div>    David, the son of a cantor, tells the interviewee how he has tried to change his</div> <div> homosexual behavior  for more than a decade. In a bizarre, sadly funny revelation, David tells of instructions by various rabbis to eat figs, snap a rubber band on his wrist or bite his tongue whenever he was tempted to another man. Isolated in his California home, he avoids synagogues and prays alone.    The documentary follows "Devorah" a closeted lesbian whose Orthodox faith has produced a marriage of twenty years with children and grandchildren. Engulfed in shadows to secure her anonymity, her emotional chaos is apparent as she wrestles with whether to finally tell her husband her dark secret. </div> <bR> <div>    Mark, the gay son of a London rabbi, has been shunned by his family and shipped by rabbis to Israel, in the naïve belief that homosexuality does not exist in the Holy Land.  Suffering from AIDS, Mark remains the optimist in this intolerant situation. He travels to  Mount Meron for a special Jewish holiday of dance and prayer. An ever-present smile on his face, the film leaves Mark as he celebrates the Sukkot holiday, at a feast he has prepared for his gay friends-one a former Hasidic rabbi.</div> <bR> <div>    "Trembling Before G-d" includes glimpses into many other gay Orthodox Jews, including Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi. Author of the ground-breaking book "Of Wrestling with God and Men", Greenberg is a genuine source of hope in this unrelenting situation. </div> <bR> <div>     Israel's humor masks his sorrow over his estranged father.  His tours of Brooklyn's Hasidic neighborhoods are his therapy for the anguish he suffered 50 years ago as a child who was "different". A reunion telephone conversation with his 98-year-old father is perhaps the film's saddest moment. The old man-who lives only a few miles away-will not see his son.</div> <bR> <div>    "Malka" and "Leah" are Brooklyn women who met and fell in love while attending an ultra-Orthodox girls' school 12 years ago. The filmmaker only shoots these women below their faces, insuring their privacy and exposing their raw pain. Rejected by their families, they strictly practice their faith in the confines of their apartment.</div> <bR> <div>    Intermingled with these powerful images and conversations, filmmaker DuBowski includes giant silhouettes of Hasidic and Orthodox life: a Hasidic family lighting Shabbat candles, a bride and a groom at an Orthodox wedding. The effect is moving and ironic: there does not seem to be a place in these tableaus for the devoutly religious key players in this stunning documentary.</div> <div>          </div> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: It is not surprising that this unusual film has received numerous awards. Heralded at film festivals in Berlin and Chicago as well as Sundance, "Trembling Before G-d" was also honored at the Independent Spirit Awards. A brave documentary that treads new ground, this movie struck a chord in this reviewer who is neither gay nor an Orthodox Jew.  As a Catholic mother of four, I found it fascinating and frustrating that in today's very secular world, those few who have embraced a faith are so unceremoniously dismissed by that religion's unbending rules. It is to DuBowski's credit that his style here is neither preachy nor one-sided and that the pain of his interviewees is so thoroughly felt by the audience.  Truly, the need to belong is as awe-inspiring as the need to believe.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Not rated for general audiences</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> Cathy Edsey Collins © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="617"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>Cathyedsey@aol.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="621" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="617"><div> Director Sandi Simcha : short film, "Tomboychik" and video, "Missionaries Form Militias"; graduate of Harvard University and author of numerous magazine and newspaper articles.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>