Holocaust stories may dwindle in time but will probably continue to be told. There are many good ones. Add
Past Life (2016), a Israeli-Polish production, to the list. I watched it last night courtesy of Netflix. It is a powerful, gut-wrenching journey into dark family secrets. Set in 1977, the main character is a young Jewish woman, a talented singer and composer. After a choral concert in which she performs a beautiful solo, she is approached by an elderly Polish woman who dubs her the daughter of a murderer. She reveals the incident to her older sister, an intense editorialist. They eventually confront their father, a gynecologist. They are not sure whether to believe the story he tells exonerating himself. When the younger woman is asked to perform at a concert in Berlin, she has an opportunity to investigate further. She first stops in Poland as a guest of a young composer who may have a connection to the issue. Writer-director Avi Nesher pulls no punches. These are realistic portrayals of human beings. The main character is ultra-serious about her craft to the point of being no fun. The writer is a highly intelligent shrew. The doctor is an unrepentant abortionist. The Polish woman is as bitter as a person can be. And the story is not resolved in a totally happy ending. This is a serious look at humanity, at the limits of forgiveness. Joy Rieger, who facially reminds me of a non-perky Reese Witherspoon, and Nelly Tagar are outstanding as the sisters. I was unfamiliar with everyone in the cast, which is one of my favorite aspects of foreign films - no preconceived notions about the performers. 300+ users at IMDb have rated
Past Life, forging to a consensus of 6.3 on a scale of ten, way too low in my estimation. It runs 109 minutes and contains subtitles. Oddly, those in English were large and those translating Hebrew, German and Polish were small. I may have missed a lot. The film's appeal is probably restricted to those who prefer downbeat drama, although there is an element of suspense when the protagonist visits once hostile territory. Here are Rieger and Tagar:
On 1/30 I submitted an updated file of ninth book,
Present and Past, to Create Space. Having spotted an egregious error, I felt compelled to do it, and also made a few other minor changes. I bought the Kindle version, and it contains the changes. The print copy does not, so I emailed CS and just read its reply. The changes may not be there for "two to three weeks." I'm very disappointed. Fortunately, I've found a way to check it without ordering copies. On the novel's page at Amazon I click on "Look Inside," then type in any of the phrases in question.
My thanks to the young men who approached while I was closing shop. The first bought
Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America by Robert I. Friedman, the second
The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston. I was fortunate in that the sunshine appeared in full at about 12:30, which allowed me to hack the cold temperature.
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