JHVC

F

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz  (1974)

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Driven, determined, scheming, and manipulative, Duddy Kravitz breathes life into many of the negative Jewish stereotypes. Yet somehow, we root for the rascally Duddy, played with humor and vigor by a young Richard Dreyfuss. Duddy's program for prosperity begins with a job at a Jewish resort, where he has a romance with a French Canadian chambermaid. With her help, he embarks on a plan to buy land, so that he can build a lakeside community and give his zeyde, his grandfather, the farm he longs for. In order to pay for the land, Duddy pursues several schemes, lending comedy and tragedy to the story.

2 hrs. 1 min. Rated PG.  AGE: 13 to Adult

JHVC

921

The Apprenticeship of Mordecai Richler  (1988)

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Mordecai Richler is best known for his brilliant depiction of Jewish immigrant life in Montreal in his award‑winning novel, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, made into a movie starring Richard Dreyfuss. One of Canada's most celebrated writers, Richler was born into an observant religious family with a rich immigrant tradition. At nineteen he went to live in Paris, in the footsteps of Hemingway, and he stayed in Europe for twenty years, producing five novels, before returning to Canada. The character of Duddy Kravitz—a difficult, funny, nervous and ambitious Jewish boy—made Richler world-famous, while his biting portrait of Jewish life also drew intense criticism. This documentary examines Richler's Jewish identity, its themes in his novels, and his own often difficult relationship to the Jewish community.

57 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult

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THE QUARREL  (1992)

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Fictional story of a deeply emotional encounter between two old friends/enemies from Bialystok who meet by chance 15 years after being separated by the Holocaust—where both lost their families. One man became a Hassidic rabbi and leader of a Yeshiva—the other is a very secular Jewish writer and newspaper columnist. The two revive the quarrel that drove them apart in their youth—arguments about faith and Jewish identity. Based on a short story written by Yiddish novelist Chaim Grade. Note: This is a wonderful trigger to discussions of Jewish identity and faith (specifically after the Holocaust).

1 hr. 25 min.  AGE: 14 to Adult