Synopsis: Hava Nagila (The Movie) is a documentary romp through the history, mystery and meaning of the great Jewish standard. Featuring interviews with Harry Belafonte, Leonard Nimoy, Connie Francis, Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor and more, the film follows the ubiquitous party song on its fascinating journey from the shtetls of Eastern Europe to the kibbutzim of Palestine to the cul-de-sacs of America. High on fun and entertainment, Hava Nagila (The Movie) is also surprisingly profound, tapping into universal themes about the importance of joy, the power of music and the resilient spirit of a people.
My Notes:
I picked this film because of my interest in cultural Judaism. I thought that this would give me a lot of ideas for my own piece. Boy, was I not into this documentary, at all.
First, it was interesting during the first part of the film. The director provided personal anecdotes about the song and growing up as a Jew on the east coast. However, it turned from this personal narrative into a dry, "history" lesson.
She lost me when she went into the history. I would normally be interested in history about jewish culture, but this documentary seemed to need a good editor. She kept interviews in that went on and on and when she did cut to the "history", she did it in a tone that wasn't funny. I think she thought she was being humorous, but it wasn't interesting at all.
It makes me think. . . am I too young to watch this documentary? Is this something that my grandparents would have loved? Were the pop culture references too outdated for someone my age? If that is the case, then this documentary was made for the baby boomers and above. I don't see a wide release for this film. ..
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