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nects the past with the present. Since
she left the Chasidic fold over a decade
ago — the young Pearl went with her
mother after "the miracle of my parents'
divorce" — her dad has never fully
understood nor accepted her secular
pursuits.
The treasure hunt for the divan is as
compelling as any good story, but it
intentionally lacks the tension of a great
mystery. For woven through the film is
a Greek chorus of witty and warm
friends and artists who also left the stric-
tures of Chasidic life — all interviewed
after Gluck's journey while sitting on
the divan in her apartment.
Their recurring theme isn't rejection
of Judaism or family but of the need for
independence to achieve self-fulfillment.
Even the limited tolerance of funda-
mentalist Jews isn't a target of criticism.
In a film full of wry digs, Gluck takes
pains not make Chasidism the butt of
anything other than the gentlest jibes.
Indeed, she respectfully acknowledges
the power that comes from ritual and
tradition.
- "In today's world, everyone's looking
for their roots," says a Brooklyn Chasid
on a pilgrimage to pray at a rebbe's
grave in Hungary "We know our
roots."
The Chasidim, including her father,

aren't so accepting of Gluck's lifestyle.
When Pearl visits Borough Park for
family dinners, the talk is about her
returning to Chasidism and taking a
husband.
While the warmth between father
and daughter that gradually emerges in
Divan feels genuine, Gluck's interludes
on the subject of marriage seem con-
trived.
I half-expected her to include a snip-
pet from another '70s movie, An
Unmarried Woman, starring Jewish
actress Jill Clayburgh.
One's enjoyment of Divan, which
even at a brisk 77 minutes feels a tad
stretched out, depends to a degree on
how much one likes Gluck. She nar-
rates in a cutesy, fifth-grade-teacher
voice, which seems condescending once
you catch on to just how assertive and
clever she is in real life.
And if Gluck's crafty intelligence has
somehow eluded you to that point, the
nifty ending cinches the case with a
twist that Barbra would admire. ❑

Divan screens 7:30 p.m. Monday,
Aug. 30, at the Detroit Film
Theatre in the Detroit Institute of
Arts. $6.50. (313) 833-3237.

?Jai'

Ann Arbor

frame.
The segment by Carlos Sorin —
who has won prizes at film festivals in
Cannes and Venice — is probably one
of the less pretentious but more over-
whelming. Sorin shows just the faces of
the victims, smiling from their family
pictures, emphasizing the voids left
behind.
The film is receiving support from
many companies in Argentina, includ-
ing free air time for publicity from tele-
vision stations, newspaper advertising
and subway billboards. Some theater
owners will also be offering discounted
tickets in an effort to boost attendance.
All income from the film will be
used to benefit 10 local nonprofit
organizations such as hospitals, AMIA,
the Simon Wiesenthal Center, victims'
relatives groups and a church welfare
institution. ❑

Farmington Hills

1235 S. University

37580 W. 12. Mile Rd.
(Halsted Village)

Birmingham

Livonia

154 S. Woodward Ave.

Laurel Park Mall
(37622 6 Mile Rd.)

Bloomfield Twp.

6527 Telegraph Rd.

Livonia

Brighton

Millennium Park
(Middlebelt &(-96)

8280 Moviedrive

in Brighton Square

Milford

Canton

1735 Canton Center Rd.

Commerce

47830 Grand River Ave.
(Grand River & Beck Rd.)

Farmington Hills

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Royal Oak

13 Mile Rd. & Woodward Ave.
Northwood Plaza

Southfield

9845 Telegraph Rd.

West Bloomfield

4763 Haggerty Rd.
(Pontiac Trail &
Haggerty Rd.)

Plymouth

15131 Sheldon Rd.
(Sheldon at 5 Mile Rd.)

30985 Orchard Lake Rd.
(between 13 & 14 Mile Rd.)

F

Main Street
Downtown Royal Oak

Taylor

Novi

Comerica Park Stadium

Royal Oak

New Hudson

Dearborn Heights

Detroit

3999 Center Point Parkway

15647 W. 9 Mile
at Greenfield Rd.

30422 Milford Rd.
Lyon Crossing

26540 Ford Rd.
(The Heights Plaza)

Pontiac

512 N. Main

Commerce & Carrol Lk. Rd.

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building.
A former AMIA employee reveals his
fears about going back to Pasteur
Street. Burman's last testimony comes
from Abel Medina, a boy born on the
day of the bombing at a hospital just
two blocks from the AMIA.
"My birthdays are different from
those of my friends. We do not cele-
brate. We just remember," the boy says
while the camera shows him at his
mother's tiny shop, receiving a brightly
wrapped present from his grandpar-
ents.
In some of the other segments, a pair
of glasses breaks on a shaking desk; a
mother surrounded by neighbors in the
northern town of Quebrada de
Humahuaca awaits a telephone call to
make sure her son in Buenos Aires is
alive; teenagers play with a friend's kip-
pah at a Buenos Aires secondary school
before a cloud of dust obscures the

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8/27
2004

45