Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish (2011)
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 11
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.5/5
User Ratings: 66
Movie Info
The play Romeo and Juliet has been translated around the world. Now this gritty, funny new feature film retells William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in Yiddish. A middle-aged ER nurse, Ava, in graduate school-and bitterly lapsed observant Jew-undertakes a Yiddish translation of Shakespeare's great classic, Romeo and Juliet. Meanwhile, her houseguest, also a Hasidic dropout, is "leaking" Kabbalistic magic, and enchants her studio apartment. In what might be the first Yiddish "mumblecore"
Jul 8, 2011 Limited
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (12) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (3)
A charming and entertaining movie that instills a little fantasy into the mix.
Top CriticThe performances are uneven, but there's a grimy thrill to seeing scenes from the play in subway cars and on fire escapes.
Oy, such terrible jokes and choppy direction.
The film, written and directed by Eve Annenberg (who also stars) is sprawling and sometimes confusing, but its premise is charming and not at all far-fetched.
There have been many untraditional film adaptations of Shakespeare's, but few have been as unorthodox as this one...
Annenberg's attitudinous Shakespeare riff is a unique blend of psychodrama, ethnographic experimentation, and high-concept hustle.
[B]lows away Shakespearean fairy dust on fusty nostalgic notions of classic Yiddish theater, with exuberance of lo-fi Luhrmann in a West Side Story set in exotic Brooklyn.
The writer-director has bitten off a bit more than she can chew but this is a must-see for anybody who loves the sound of Yiddish, as well as those interested in Jewish culture in general. The young actors, renegades from the Satmar, are superb.
Nearly all of the characters seem curiously representative of some seldom-seen sub-cultural trend, if they're ultimately somewhat interchangeable.
The story has running some real comic possibilities, but few make it to the finish line
If Shakespeare were alive today and in good health, as I'd wish him to be in, he'd probably be begging for a circumcision to honor this little film that gets the gist of his most famous tragedy down pretty well.
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish yet.
What's Hot On RT
Pictures from a zombie nation
Woody Allen in San Francisco
See the Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Where does This Is the End rank?
Fresh Links
Featured
Movie: ID: 771219229 Title: Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish Release Date: 2011-07-08 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 6 Status: 1
The Looks of Johnny Depp
To celebrate the star's birthday, BuzzSugar looks at the many faces of Johnny Depp.
10 Egregious Product Placements
Rolling Stone wonders if The Internship goes too far... then provides 10 examples of movies that did.
Horror Movie Mistakes
Moviefone offers up 8 of the most obvious glaring errors in popular fright flicks.
10 Bad Movies That Look Great
Sometimes even terrible movies can be beautiful; here are 10 of them, from HitFix.
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Digital Multiplex: 21 & Over, Quartet, and More 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Jack the Giant Slayer and Quartet 20
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Man of Steel Sets June Record 101
- Weekly Ketchup: Man of Steel Sequel In the Works 182
- Five Favorite Films with Joss Whedon 124
- Bonus Footage of the Cast & Crew of Man of Steel 1
- Critics Consensus: Man of Steel Is Up, Up, and Okay 277
Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish (DE)
- Romeo and Juliet in Yiddish (UK)
