Academic journals are not necessarily known for their readable coverage of popular film. As a long-time Jewish film critic, I follow the discussions about popular Jewish film. And here’s one worth looking out for (although you will need access to the resources of an academic library, unfortunately, to see this): the symposium on the Coen brothers 2009 film A Serious Man, in the November 2011 (volume 35, number 2) issue of the AJS Review (Association for Jewish Studies), taken from the December 2010 AJS conference session on the topic. Good articles by:
- Jeffrey Shandler (Rutgers University) analysing the Jewish and Yiddish elements of the film;
- Shai Ginsburg (Duke University) looking at the film from the perspective of modern physics (Schrodinger’s Cat);
- Riv-Ellen Prell (University of Minnesota) examining the verisimilitude (or not) of the setting – the Jewish suburb of St Louis Park in Minneapolis; and
- Jonathan Boyarin (University of North Carolina) and Ariella Lang (Columbia University).
Strong writing, fascinating analysis – I particularly loved Prell’s piece about Jewish Minnesota. Worthwhile for fans of Jewish film.
Watch the trailer here:
