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By Jen Bi
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Dybbuk is
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States in 1
ity among
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print had s
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original m
Europe, ai
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prints, the
audiences
see a un
morality a
The fi
two men,
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friendship
that - ii
daughter a
shall one
law dicta
cannot be
make deci
Sender
has died g
Nisn dies
world. Ei

bbuk: A

*iddi sh view

the mysticWl world
lik counters Leah as she is about to marry
ig its midwestern debut this another man whom her now-greedy father has
The Dybbuk is the result of a tour- chosen for his wealth and status. Although
f film restoration undertaken by the Leah and Khonnon fall in love, they cannot
Center for Jewish Film. The marry, and Khonnon delves into the world of
unusual because, as a Yiddish film mysticism to free Leah from her impending
Poland, it marks the short-lived marriage.
ce of Yiddish cinema within the Leah's father realizes Khonnon's identity
f an unprecedented cultural and only after Khonnon has died in the process of
edom in the late 1930's. summoning other-worldly powers. The title
[m was first brought to the United of the movie comes from the Yiddish word
938, and enjoyed a special popular- for dead souls who enter the body of those
the Jewish audiences of New York they loved in life, and Khonnon's soul
Never, it seemed as if no negative succeeds in entering Leah's body. The
survived World War II, and the film ensuing exorcism manages to expel
badly deteriorating. In 1976, the Khonnon's spirit from Leah's body, and
nd a negative of poor quality with though Leah dies of heartbreak, the two are
ments missing. A search for the finy reunited after death.
materials led the film's restorers to The film succeeds both as a narrative
nd finally a print was discovered at story, and as a representation of Jewish
h Film Institute. After five arduous religion, folklore, and mysticism. Originally
ssembling scenes from various other a play, The Dybbuk is the result of author S.
film was restored and modern-day Ansky's folklore expeditions through Eastern
now have the rare opportunity to European Jewish villages in an attempt to
ique story of love, mysticism, chronicle and preserve disappearing traditions.
nd religion. The value of his work became eerily clear as
ilm tells the teleological story of the onslaught of the Holocaust and an
Sender and Nisn, whose wives are atmosphere of increasing anti-Semitism
In an attempt to extend their threatened to obliterate important Jewish
into the next generation, they agree customs.
n the event that one man has a Originally titled Between Two Worlds,
nd the other a son - their children The Dybbuk was first a play written over five
day be married. However, Jewish years between 1912 and 1917; it still remains
tes that promises for the unborn the most widely produced play in the history
binding, and that "man does not of Jewish Theater. Ansky, who died in 1920
sions." before ever seeing the play staged, entrusted
r returns home to find that his wife writer Alter Kacyzne as its literary executor.
iving birth to a daughter, Leah, and It is Kacyzne who eventually wrote The Dyb-
as his son Khonnon comes into the buk's screenplay.
ghteen years later, Khonnon en- The Dybbuk centers around a small

Continued from Page 4
(Ryan's Hope) plays Allison, the
token gloomy psychic who seems to
be having bad vibes about the way
the plotline is headed (ghost stories
on a dark and stormy night?) and
doesn't want to go. She's eventually
convinced by her friend Cheryl,
played by Pamela Segall of Hey,
Larry fame. At this point, the film
shifts into anthology mode, as the
group begins to share their spooky
stories.
The scariest segment of the film
features four teenage girls being re-

lentlessly terrorized by an insane
man and his three well-trained dogs.
However, in an apparent desire to re-
hash every old horror cliche imagin-
able, the film also includes a psy-
chotic phone caller, a couple with
car trouble who must go to the local
haunted house for help and a really
mad guy with an axe. Even the
film's title demonstrates the Wheat
Brothers major weakness- a serious
lack of originality. 0

Poniewozik
Continued from Page 10
Ann Arbor Airport. Thank city for
its hospitality, but intentionally re-
fer to it throughout the speech as
"Seattle." At end of speech, look
about quizzically and remark, "You
know, this is a beautiful city. Damn
shame they have to put that toxic
waste dump here." Cackle gleefully

and leave without further explana-.
tion.
I respectfully await your reply,
and would only like to add one fur-
ther stipulation:

If
ing in
Jin


CARRY
OUT
.MAIN CAN
665-60

cs2


Dybbuk
Continued from Page 4
Death, further unite the town in their
outpouring of communal belief.
In the midst of the anti-Semitic
religious persecution of the first half
of the twentieth century, it is re-
markable that traditions so integral
to the Jewish community and faith
have not been destined to oblivion.
Dybbuk's attempt to preserve what
appeared to be slipping away seems
prophetic in light of the atrocities of
the Holocaust, and the assimilation
of traditional Hasidic Jewish culture
into mainstream America. From An-
sky's first efforts at memorializing a
dying tradition to the recent restora-
tion of this film, The Dybbuk repre-

The restored version of the 1930s Yiddish classic, The Dybbuk.

sents the struggle of an oppressed
people to save their culture and their
beliefs. U
In Yiddish with English subtitles,
The Dybbuk will be shown at the
Michigan Theater on Saturday,
November 11, at 8 p.m., and again
Sunday at 3 p.m. After the Saturday
showing, the author of the subtitles,
Sylvia Fried of the Tauber Institute
at Brandeis University will answer
questions from the audience. Ad-
mission is $4.00, $3.25 for students
and senior citizens. On Sunday at 1
p.m., Fried will give a talk, "The
Dybbuk: Restoration of a Legend."

Medium Round Pizza with
Cheese and Choice of
2 Items. (Approx. 12")
$6.95

Hasidic Jewish-Polish village, a shtetl. A
testament to the importance of community in
the Jewish tradition, the shtetl was the
precursor of the homogeneous Eastern
European Jewish existence of the New York
ghettos of the early twentieth century.
The natural and the supernatural become
entwined, as do mystic ritual and religious
faith, to create a macabre morality play that
emphasizes the old values of deference to God
and the keeping of mortal promises. These
themes are in part communicated by the
film's surroundings, as The Dybbuk has the
highly stylized quality of the German
Expressionism film genre that uses
environment to express the characters' inner
psychology and turmoil. In addition to the

1
IO
1

surroundings, the richness of the characters
and their passionate faith fulfills the sense of
religious community so integral to the story
and to the shtetl way of life.
Leah, or Leyele, is an ephemeral beauty
reminiscent of a character in a Girodet paint-
ing. The wanderer is an eerie Elijah-like
figure who appears and disappears periodically
throughout the film, expressing the trans-
gressed social and religious morality to which
the characters are blind. The music of the
film, sung by Leah, the community, and the
cantor, hypnotizes and communicates the
characters' religious devotion. The ritualistic
dances, particularly the mesmerizing Dance of
See Dybbuk, Page 13

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After Mi
By Mark Binelli
You might be a bit skeptical
about After Midnight, the latest
film to join the annual fall horror
flood. The movie was written and di-
rected by the infamous Wheat Broth-
ers (the guys responsible for such
enduring classics as The Fly I1 and
Nightmare on Elm Street Part IV), it
has been given almost no publicity
and its title only serves to remind us
of the time when carriages become
pumpkins.
But Halloween was just a couple
of weeks ago, wasn't it? Pumpkins
can be cool. Sure, After Midnight is
a really bad movie, but in about a
month, when it's in heavy rotation
on HBO and you don't have any-
thing better to do at 3:30 a.m. on a
Tuesday night, you just might want
to check it out. Parts of the film are
surprisingly frightening, mostly be-
cause gore was sacrificed for some
authentic suspense.
Don't take this the wrong way.
Parts of the film are surprisingly
stupid as well, like the premise, the
acting and the dialogue. In a strange
attempt to appeal to college stu-

dnight: S~
dents, the plot centers around the
somewhat demented Professor Derek,
played by promising psycho Ramy
Zada, and his intense Psych 102
course, the Psychology of Fear. He
begins his first class by loading a
gun and threatening to shoot the
most obnoxious student in the
room, Russ (Ed Monaghan).
After Russ wets his pants on,
camera (the Wheat Brothers were
never the most tasteful men in the
world) and runs off to fill out a drop-
add form, Professor Derek proceeds
to hold the gun to his own head and
fire. While the image of blood and
brains splattered all over a chalk-
board is very meaningful to most of
us, we soon find out that the whole
thing was just a slight-of-hand set
up by the prof to demonstrate to the
class the meaning of true fear.
The students are- immediately
won over by Professor Derek's sick
disposition and several of them soon
agree to go over to his house during
an electrical storm to try to frighten
each other. Jillian McWhirther
See Midnight, Page 13

ve it for cable television

Continued from Page 7
his earthy dining pleasures so the
other patrons can enjoy their meal.
The Bea Arthur order can also be
read as a latent expression of Zog's
desires for the cast members of The
Golden Girls. Remember that Zog
was wearing a white T-shirt, an ob-
vious reference to Golden Girl Betty
White.
Sarge then orders a "Sean's Spe-
cial," a chicken breast on an onion
toll with jack cheese. Sarge's choice
of chicken, after Zog had ordered it,
can be seen as an extension of the re-
ligious symbolism. Sarge then is
the faithful disciple character follow-
ing Zog's good and pious example.
At Alex's turn to order, the true
nature of the waitress is finally re-
vealed. Alex, never having tasted
Spam, is tempted to try the "Spam
and Eggs." Zog pleads with Alex not
to give into his desires, but the wait-
ress intercedes and tempts Alex, say-
ing "I always order the spam and
eggs. They grill the spam here really
nice." Alex can be seen signing
away his soul as he agrees to have
the "Spam and Eggs."
Chapters Three to Eight: The
next five chapters can be seen largely
as filler before the climactic actual
meal arrives. The key passage in-
volves the waitress loaning a pen so
Zog and Sarge can play dots on the
placemat. The waitress tries to tempt
the two into the personal hell she
has lured Alex, but to no avail, as

Zog and Sarge become bored with
dots before a winner is determined.
The food arrives and Alex for the
last time contemplates repenting,
but realizes that he has already
ordered his Spam and thus he must
eat it. He warily takes a bite of the
Spam and reacts with a surprised
"This is Spam?!"
Chapter Nine: Alex actually en-
joys the Spam. Alex has an incor-
ruptible nature and thus the
temptress is unable to capture his
soul. The waitress' frustration is
then seen as she spills water on an-
other customer. Ironically, the water
can be seen as a symbol of cleansing
one's soul, but in the hands of the
waitress this cleansing element is
mishandled.
A sub-plot to the entire meal was
the unusually high prices charged for
food. Although the helpings were
bountiful, the prices ($5.75 for a
ham and cheese omelette, $1.65 for a
bagel and cream cheese) were a bit
pricey.
Study Questions
1. What toppings come on the
"Anne Murray" chicken sandwich?
2. What is the significance of
Silverman's being connected to
Howard Johnson's?
3. What are the actual ingredients
of Spam?
4. Couldn't they eliminate
Shrimp and Chips with Crab Balls
from the menu without making any-
one too unhappy?

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The demented Professor Derek teaches his students the real meaning of fear.

I

Page 4 Weekend/November 10, 1989

Weekend/November 10, 1989