Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan has a theory about the range of Jewish outsiders who are protagonists these days. The Jewish films of 1998 are mostly the work of young filmmakers, in their 20s and 30s, who are making first or second features, capitalizing on multicultural chic to express who they are. Nowhere was the trend more apparent than in the work of women directors, who mined their pasts to create bold heroines struggling with issues of Jewish identity. Feeling as if a Star of David is emblazoned on her forehead, she journeys to a remote manor house and begins a torrid affair with the master. It's part of a continuing trend of ethnic awareness.
Artists are more comfortable asserting their ethnicity.
If 1998 was the year of the bold Jewish heroine, it was also the year of the standout Holocaust-themed film. Naomi Pfefferman is entertainment editor and senior writer at the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. This article was distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.