A new spate of Holocaust films are finally letting Jews have their revenge.
This comes after decades of Hollywood’s preferred Holocaust, in which Jews diligently parade to their deaths and evil Nazis escape to Canada. But lately, a handful of filmmakers are imagining a new ending. And this time, it’s the Nazis who are in danger.
The only problem is, the world is so accustomed to Jewish victimhood it’s not sure how to receive this new fantasy.
Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” tasks Brad Pitt and his cadre of Jewish-American commandos with a Nazi killing spree. Some critics are praising it for being subversive. Others accuse it of re-writing history (though they’re unclear whether this is a bad thing). Patrick Goldstein from the L.A. Times called it “
kosher porn“ and The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw
named it a “WW2 shlocker...[that] is achtung-achtung-ach-mein-Gott atrocious.“
Next up is “This Must Be the Place,“
written by an Italian duo that puts Sean Penn on the prowl for his father’s Nazi-killer. Penn will play an aging musician who trades in retirement for first-degree murder. (Apparently, Penn is exploring his Jewish side—he won an Oscar last February for playing the Jewish activist Harvey Milk and recently found himself lip-locked with Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman, who denied their fling.)
Whether or not these ideas gain further momentum remains to be seen. Rewriting history is no small feat. But the idea of a retroactive Jewish fantasy in which Nazis pay for their crimes is certainly welcome entertainment. After all, Hollywood itself was created by Jews who wanted to escape their pasts and live a better future.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks