Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness (2011)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 39
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.9/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 642
Movie Info
A riveting portrait of the great writer whose stories became the basis of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness tells the tale of the rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Plumbing the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of profound change, he captured that world with brilliant humor. Sholem Aleichem was not just a witness to the creation of a new modern Jewish identity, but one of the very men who forged it.
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Cast
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Alan Rosenberg
Narrator -
Peter Riegert
Tevye -
Rachel Dratch
Sheyne Sheyndl/Stepm... -
Jason Kravits
Menachem Mendl -
Daniel Lerman
Motl the Cantor's So...
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All Critics (39) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (0)
Not often does a film double as a literary critic, but this is the Northrop Frye of docs. Essentially, it revises and sharpens the blunted reputation of a great writer.
Top CriticAudiences interested in Jewish literature will find Laughing in the Darkness compelling for its deep analysis of Aleichem's works, featuring a selection of experts and the writer's granddaughter, Bel Kaufman.
[An] absorbing PBS-style documentary.
Throughout the film, Dorman uses ethnographic and silent-cinema footage, along with ubiquitous klezmer music, to paint a picture of the era.
A rich, winning documentary...
The film adroitly sets the writer's works, his triumphs and tribulations, against the backdrop of a tumultuous period for European Jewry.
Dorman strikes the perfect balance between the work and the man.
In the end, you're certainly inspired to read Aleichem, but not necessarily to watch Dorman's film again.
.... a thoughtful, if also conventional, overview of Aleichem's life and work, mixing straight history and biography with quotations from his writings...
It's a history lesson that also shows art informing the events, even changing them.
... a swift, fascinating 93 minutes ...
One needn't be a student of the history or literature of the period to appreciate this excellent portrait of a fascinating and important figure.
It's good, but I'd wait for TV.
Dorman's portrait is engrossing, but his Ken Burns style doesn't match his subject's vitality.
No Fiddling with 'Sholem Aleichem' Legacy
Audience Reviews for Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness
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