Trembling Before G-d (2001)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 61
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 7
Trembling Before G-d looks at the effects of religious morality on believers whose sexuality falls outside the accepted norm with intelligence and compassion.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 20
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 1
Trembling Before G-d looks at the effects of religious morality on believers whose sexuality falls outside the accepted norm with intelligence and compassion.
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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 1,477
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Director Sandi Simcha DuBowski makes his feature-length film debut with the documentary Trembling Before G-d, a look at gays and lesbians in Hasidic and Orthodox Judaism. Made over several years in New York, California, Israel, Britain, and Florida, the film follows the lives of several people struggling to express both their faith and their sexuality. In L.A., pianist David is an Orthodox gay man who has been through over ten years of therapy to supposedly "cure" his homosexuality. He visits
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All Critics (65) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (9) | DVD (7)
A unique documentary about the crisis confronting gay and lesbian Jews who wish to remain part of the Orthodox and Hasidic branches of Judaism.
So how do gay men and lesbians who want to practice Orthodox Judaism reconcile these two seemingly contradictory forces in their lives? Director Sandi Simcha DuBowski's Trembling Before G-D examines this dilemma with compassion and sensitivity.
Top CriticTo the film's considerable credit, it focuses on the power of faith more than on the power of desire.
A remarkable film, for thoughtful people of all beliefs.
Does an incisive job in defining the contradictory natures of Orthodox Judaism and homosexuality, and honoring the condemned people caught in the middle.
Trembling Before G-d has no answers to the questions it raises, but by daring to ask them, DuBowski has done much to lighten the shadows.
Powerful documentary about the struggle of gay and lesbian orthodox Jews to reconcile their beliefs and their desires
Trembling Before G-d, by no stretch a well constructed documentary film, is an important breakthrough for Jewish orthodoxy because ignoring a consistent problem helps no one.
The film helpfully translates onscreen some of the Hebrew words of the interviewees for the benefit of goyim whose only exposure to the Hasidim has been Yentl.
This insightful documentary simmers with a fury that's passionate enough not to need spelling out.
the human face it puts on the objects of intolerance speaks to discrimination at large in all its ugly forms. Its a moving and important piece of filmmaking
It offers several interesting insights into the seemingly incongruous matters of homosexuality and orthodox religion.
A heavy subject for any filmmaker to broach, and it definitely exceeds the skills of first-time director Sandi Simcha Dubowski.
A sensitive and eye-opening documentary.
Moving and, ultimately, hopeful -- a hope that extends further than most documentaries allow.
This portrayal never becomes anything more than a typical 'talking heads' doc.
Everyone, including adherents of other faiths which treat gays much the same, should find food for thought in this fine film.
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[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]The movie talks to gays and lesbians in Los Angeles, Miami, Brooklyn and Israel, along with rabbis and psychologists in the community. Whereas some professionals are clearly empathetic, others simply ask their charges to change and conform.(By the way, I think the woman with 12 children is not depressed because of her husband's struggle.) In the end, it is much easier to tell someone what to believe than it is to tell them how to feel. And if god exists, then I would be sure that she loves gays and lesbians as much as everybody else. [/font]