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came out. [7] Israel is a 58-year-old New Yorker who decided he could not be |
gay and Orthodox, and turned his back on his religion, though not before his |
family forced him into electroshock therapy to try to cure him. Now a tour |
guide in the Haredi neighborhoods of New York, the film follows him as he |
gives a tour, psychoanalyzes himself and decides, on the 25th anniversary of |
being with his life partner , to call his 98-year-old father, a rabbi, whom he |
has not seen in over twenty years. [8] Michelle is another New Yorker, in her |
forties, who believed she was the only Hasidic lesbian in the world and as a |
consequence allowed herself to be pressured into marriage. However, she got |
divorced and was subsequently ostracized by her family and community when they |
discovered she was homosexual. The film shows her visiting her old |
neighborhood and an Orthodox fair. [9] Rabbi Steven Greenberg, one of the |
founding members of the Jerusalem Open House , a gay rights organization in |
Israel which provides support to gay Orthodox Jews and their families, who is |
sometimes called "the world’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi", [10] discusses |
parents' reactions to their children coming out , as well as traditional |
interpretations of the prohibitions on homosexual acts in the Torah . Shlomo |
Ashkenazy is a gay psychotherapist who has run a confidential support group |
for Orthodox gay men for nearly 20 years. [8] He is interviewed about the |
effects of Orthodox attitudes to homosexuality and the reactions of rabbis to |
gay Jews. [11] Mark is the English son of a Haredi rabbi. Coming out at 15, he |
was expelled from seven yeshivas for homosexual activity before becoming a |
drag queen , and is now dying of AIDS -related illness. He visits several |
yeshivas and other religious sites throughout the film. [12] He remains |
upbeat, at one point saying, "Being a Jew is such a nice present to receive." |
"Malka" and "Leah" are two observant Orthodox lesbians who have been together |
for ten years, which has destroyed Malka's relationship with her family. They |
speak frankly about their lives in the film and discuss their fears that they |
may not end up in heaven together. They are shown preparing for Shabbat, and |
Leah gives advice to a married Hasidic lesbian who is terrified her husband |
will find out and take away her children. [8] "Devorah" is a married Hasidic |
lesbian living in Israel. She only appears in silhouette with an |
electronically modified voice. She considered her twenty-year-long marriage a |
lie, and can only cope by taking antidepressants . [13] The film follows her |
as she attends her first gay pride parade , where she is offended by the anti- |
orthodox sentiment of its speakers. Production [ edit ] Sandi Simcha DuBowski |
was making videos about the Christian religious right when he began to examine |
his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew , and began making a personal |
video diary of his search for homosexuality among the Orthodox Jewish |
community. [14] On the making of the film, DuBowski said, "I don't think it |
was until I met people who were kicked out of their families and their |
Yeshivas, in marriages betraying their spouses, that it became clear why I was |
doing this film. But then, for me it assumed an enormous level of |
responsibility to the people I met, to the issue, to the community." He met |
thousands of people, but only a few agreed to appear in the film, as most were |
too frightened of being expelled from their community. [15] Even when |
interviewing those who did agree to appear, DuBowski had to hide his film |
equipment so their neighbors would not know that they had agreed to take part. |
As a result, the documentary took six years to complete. [1] There is no |
narration, and the film may be considered to be an example of cinéma vérité . |
The film is also interspersed with silhouetted tableaus of Jewish religious |
practices, for example Shabbat . [14] The language is predominantly English, |
with passages in Yiddish and Hebrew that are subtitled . Also subtitled are |
passages with significant amounts of " Yeshivish ", Yiddish-influenced |
technical terms in Judaism ; for example, posek is translated as "judge on |
Jewish law", and daven is translated as "pray". The title is an allusion to |
the word Haredi ( Hebrew : חֲרֵדִי ), which can be interpreted as "one who |
trembles" in awe of God. [16] The spelling of the word G-d in the film's title |
reflects practice by Orthodox Jews of avoiding writing a name of God , even in |
English. By omitting the middle letter, the word is not written in full, thus |
eliminating the possibility of accidentally destroying the written name of |
God, which would violate one of the 613 Mitzvot of Judaism (number 8 on |
Maimonides' list ). Soundtrack [ edit ] Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d |
Soundtrack album by John Zorn Released December 2000 Recorded June 2000 Genre |
Avant-garde , jazz , classical Length 65 : 11 Label Tzadik TZ 7331 Producer |
John Zorn Filmworks chronology Filmworks VIII: 1997 (1998) Filmworks IX: |
Trembling Before G-d (2000) Filmworks X: In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2001) |
John Zorn chronology Cartoon S/M (2000) Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d |
(2000) The Gift (2001) Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d is the ninth album |
of film scores by John Zorn . [17] The album was released on Zorn's label, |
Tzadik Records , in 2000 and features the music that Zorn wrote and recorded |
for the documentary Trembling Before G-d. Five of the tracks are pieces from |
Zorn's Masada songbook. [18] The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the |
album four stars noting: Trembling Before G-D is a high-water mark. Not for |
John Zorn, because he sets new ones for himself each and every time he |
releases something, but for other composers, particularly those of film |
soundtracks. Without the images, Zorn has given us a work of solemn beauty, a |
work that uses silence and tradition even as it reinvents the places in which |
they inhabit. Certainly this is his most "accessible" music, whatever that |
means, but it is also—simultaneously—sacred music, secular music, and American |
classical music of the highest order. [19] Professional ratings Review scores |
Source Rating Allmusic [19] Recorded June 2000 at Frank Booth, Brooklyn |
Produced by John Zorn Personnel [ edit ] Chris Speed \- clarinet Jamie Saft \- |
piano, organ Cyro Baptista (12,17) - percussion John Zorn (6) - voice. |
Reception [ edit ] Critical [ edit ] Trembling Before G-d was put out on |
general release on October 21, 2001, in New York City, where it broke Film |
Forum's opening day box office records, grossing more than $5,500 on the first |
day of release. [20] According to Box Office Mojo , it grossed $788,896 at the |
box office during its release. [3] It was very warmly received by critics, one |
describing it: "With its testimony of anguish and joy, Trembling is a tribute |
to the human spirit, if not to the institutions that seek to define it." [21] |
Critical reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes were 89% positive, the 34th |
highest rating on the website's Top Movies:Best of Rotten Tomatoes 2001 |
rankings. [22] On Metacritic the film received a score of 66, indicating |
"Generally favorable reviews". [23] Religious [ edit ] Trembling Before G-d |
has had a wide impact especially within the Orthodox Jewish world, where the |
reception has been mixed. Several Orthodox synagogues sponsored showings of |
the film all over the world, including in Israel. [24] [25] The Chief Rabbi of |
South Africa , Warren Goldstein , described the film as "intellectually |
shallow," commenting that "its one-sided caricature of Orthodox Judaism does |