Hester Street is a gem. Thank you for sharing your views.👍😊 I am not Jewish. But I remember my father telling me how when they went to Ellis Island to pick up the relatives from Ireland that one of the first things they did was to buy the women a hat rather than have them pull their large (Galway) shawls[1] over their head when out in public. Back then everyone wore some sort of hat/head covering when outside of their home. 1.) Galway-style shawls are similar in design to the Scottish woman's Earasaid (female great kilt) although, not always composed of fabric in woven plaid design. Also, by the late 19th -- early 20th century, not as large as an Earasaid. Women owned both a winter (in a heavy wool) and at least one summer Galway shawl.
My mother loved this film so much. Her parents were Jake and Gitl, from a shetl in Lithuania, and a few decades later. My Bubbe never wore a wig, but a shidel. Although, at home, she wore her natural hair, and it was beautiful. Now that I see this film as an adult, trying to find and live true to my heritage, whilst USA is burning with anti-Semitism, makes me understand why this meant so much to my mother.
Yes Jamie, it's disgusting how Anti-Semitism is raging in the United States & many parts of the West. I thank G-d that I was raised in a very Jewish Affirmative Home. The character of "Jake" enrages me. He wants Gitil to break Halacha by uncovering her own hair, then when she capitulates to his demands he spits his dummy out. Oh & by the way Jamie: don't send your children to College ........... they're not safe places for Jews.
I do watch this film over and over again. It's one of my favorites. I learned a lot about Jewish customs like the wig. At work, an old Jewish woman came in, and one of the techs took a picture of her. To us we thought she looked ridiculous. The woman was so outraged. She immediately yelled at our Jewish boss, an ophthalmologist. The tech was fired on the spot. Then I saw Hester Street, and I understood. Thank you for explaining all of the nuances of this beautiful story in film.
@@sharonstevek.6797 I figured you had (yes, of course the same director-filmmaker; it’s a sequel!); I had a strange reason to ask - I wanted to make a strange recommendation if you’d seen both films: the recommendation is that you watch (in order), Takahata’s “Grave of the Fireflies” (Japanese language with subtitles, not the dubbed!) and then Takahata’s “Only Yesterday”; the films could not be more different from Hester Street and Crossing Delancey, but I find the pairs of films share a remarkable sensitivity to “place” in historical terms, the way a specific place exists in our memory and how that relates to new generations in the same place, decades later, with all the social changes and major historic events that have come between: in a word, how the past in a given location informs (and in powerful ways can seem to “haunt”) the present in that same place.
I am watching this now, for the first time. First scene: European Jews new in USA would know nothing about this kind of dancing. In Orthodox Europe, men and women did not dance together. You can see this still, if you search UA-cam for Hassidic Jewish weddings. You’ll see how uncomfortable this “new” dancing would have been for these people. Did anyone else notice the sign on the dance school wall? “English spoken here,” and it was also written, the same thing, in Yiddish. My grandparents came to USA in the 1930s: just in time. Still, until my wonderful grandparents died, they spoke Yiddish in their home, but they never, ever called it Yiddish. They spoke Jewish. Have any other second gen USA Jewish also have grands who spoke Jewish? I wish I had, whilst they were still with us, learned more about what their early life here was like. And I watched only the first scene, and it spoke to me this much. Oh, I feel that I must add that my Bubbe (grandmother) left her family in Lithuania: twelve siblings and her parents, plus huge extended family. Only one survived the Einsatzgruppen (Ninth fort outside Kaunas/ Kovno, Lithuania.) This one man later was murdered in Auschwitz II, Birkenau May their souls find peace and their memories be a blessing.
Wonderful film. Some remarks: Jake sews in a sweatshop, not really a tailor's shop. Please, the wife's name is not "Geetle." It's "Gitel." It's well to note that even though these characters were from the Russian Pale of Settlement, there were many Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side who were from Austrian (really Austro-Hungarian) Galicia -- areas that are now parts of Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, etc. Also, many immigrants don't go through that full process of adjustment; many continue to speak their native language, and live in communities where they can survive without knowing much of the new country's language. It's their children, either young immigrants like Joey, or kids born in the new location, who more easily adapt and more fully assimilate. The scene of Jake cutting his son's hair is about his cutting off the peyos, the longer hair grown out in front of the ears, than about his son's hair in general. Growing peyos is considered by some ultra-orthodox Jews to be a religious obligation for boys and men. As for the women covering their hair with wigs and scarves, by the 1890s (when this film is supposed to take place), many Jewish women in Europe had modernized and were no longer keeping that tradition. Even in Eastern Europe, there was increasing modernization and assimilation among many Jews. It's a myth that all European Jews were orthodox at the end of the 19th century. It's interesting that you talk about the movie turning from Jake as the protagonist to Gitel, during the hair-covering scene. I didn't perceive it that way at all. Jake comes across as overbearing and obnoxious way before that scene; for instance, when he makes fun of the "greenhorn" newcomer in the restaurant, and when he's nasty to Gitel at the immigration office (probably intended to be Ellis Island). He seems like a narcissistic bully very early on. Gitel was well aware that there was a different kind of man than Jake, this wasn't a new revelation for her. She used to think her husband was that kind of man, although probably not a scholar. What's new to her is the person he's become, not that Bernstein is anything new. Likewise, she didn't need to "learn to take care of herself." Clearly, she was quite capable of taking care of herself -- getting herself and her son to the U.S., fixing up the tiny apartment, and taking every cent Mamie had in the divorce settlement. She was quite aware of her own worth. She just needed to get her footing. Also clear from the end of the film, when she explains to Bernstein exactly how they're going to arrange their life together. Her quiet demeanor did not mean she wasn't tough. One piece of exposition that would have been nice, would have been a quick mention among the characters of why, during the divorce scene, Gitel is told she must wait 90 days to marry, whereas Jake can remarry immediately. The reason is that it would take 90 days to make sure that Gitel is not pregnant with Jake's child before she marries someone else. In those days, before pregnancy tests, time was the only way to tell. Without that info, the viewer is left to conclude that this rule was weirdly sexist for no good reason.
Thanks for that historical context. In terms of who the protagonist is, I'd agree that Jake comes off as difficult to like from early on, but that doesn't mean he can't be a protagonist - as you likely know, movies are filled with unlikeable main characters. But even while playing him as a jerk, Keats's performance is quite magnetic, and it's his motivations which drive the first half of the film. A viewer going into it blind (not knowing about Gitl's imminent arrival), would likely consider him the protagonist and the film to be one about his own process of coming up in the world as a recently arrived immigrant. That's why the shift to Gitl and her pov is such a powerful part of the film (movies rarely make such a shift). I agree that her struggle to get to America (and whatever she went through at home) surely mark her as spirited and tough. But the 'portrayal' of her in her early scenes is one of meekness and fragility. Cinematically speaking, her emergence as a not only a powerful woman but (speaking in somewhat meta terms), somebody able of "taking over" the film, is one of the film's wonders . . . for me anyway.
@@AaronHunter I liked what you said about Charles Grodin in Heartbreak Kid, because it does apply here too-seventies films portrayed a lot of men who were jerks.
Interesting insights. Jake is not simply cutting Joey's hair. He is cutting off Yossele's side-locks, which are a hallmark of ultra-religious Jewish males, and never cut from birth onwards. Jake (Yankel) was obviously also brought up in an ultra-religous home (otherwise Gitl wouldn't have married him) and threw away his outward religious symbols (beard, side-locks and head covering) as part of his effort to assimilate into the Gentile American culture.
@@AaronHunter Cutting off the side-locks is considered a major sin, which mirrors the prohibition of harvesting the corners of one's field (an equally severe sin), which is by Jewish law lefty unharvested so that their produce will be left for the poor. Both show a defiance of G-d and lack of faith, because they push G-d out of the picture, of oneself and where the field's produce really comes from, and Who ultimately owns it. Cutting off the side-locks is like casting off the yoke of Heaven, denying G-d, and is thus a very devastating image of assimilation to American secularism and materialism.
So disagree about Stephen Keats. I find his presence in the film so horribly annoying - his language and his accent is simply awful - it jumps out like a very sore thumb.
Unbelievable that this absolute gem of a film faced so many obstacles to get to the cinemas.
Hester Street is a gem. Thank you for sharing your views.👍😊
I am not Jewish. But I remember my father telling me how when they went to Ellis Island to pick up the relatives from
Ireland that one of the first things they did was to buy the women a hat rather than have them pull their large (Galway)
shawls[1] over their head when out in public. Back then everyone wore some sort of hat/head covering when outside
of their home.
1.) Galway-style shawls are similar in design to the Scottish woman's Earasaid (female great kilt) although, not always
composed of fabric in woven plaid design. Also, by the late 19th -- early 20th century, not as large as an Earasaid.
Women owned both a winter (in a heavy wool) and at least one summer Galway shawl.
My mother loved this film so much.
Her parents were Jake and Gitl, from a shetl in Lithuania, and a few decades later.
My Bubbe never wore a wig, but a shidel. Although, at home, she wore her natural hair, and it was beautiful.
Now that I see this film as an adult, trying to find and live true to my heritage, whilst USA is burning with anti-Semitism, makes me understand why this meant so much to my mother.
It's Sheitel.
@@Grisostomo06
What is the difference
between a Tichel and
a Sheitel.?
@@here_we_go_again2571 I don't know.
Yes Jamie, it's disgusting how Anti-Semitism is raging in the United States & many parts of the West. I thank G-d that I was raised in a very Jewish Affirmative Home. The character of "Jake" enrages me. He wants Gitil to break Halacha by uncovering her own hair, then when she capitulates to his demands he spits his dummy out. Oh & by the way Jamie: don't send your children to College ........... they're not safe places for Jews.
I absolutely love Hester Street!
I love Hester Street too!
Thank you for the information! I LOVE this film!!!
I do watch this film over and over again. It's one of my favorites. I learned a lot about Jewish customs like the wig. At work, an old Jewish woman came in, and one of the techs took a picture of her. To us we thought she looked ridiculous. The woman was so outraged. She immediately yelled at our Jewish boss, an ophthalmologist. The tech was fired on the spot. Then I saw Hester Street, and I understood. Thank you for explaining all of the nuances of this beautiful story in film.
Did you see the sequel "Crossing Delancey"?....
@AnonYmous-ry2jn yes I loved Crossing Delaney. It was the same director. It was a very sweet love story. ❤️
@@sharonstevek.6797 I figured you had (yes, of course the same director-filmmaker; it’s a sequel!); I had a strange reason to ask - I wanted to make a strange recommendation if you’d seen both films: the recommendation is that you watch (in order), Takahata’s “Grave of the Fireflies” (Japanese language with subtitles, not the dubbed!) and then Takahata’s “Only Yesterday”; the films could not be more different from Hester Street and Crossing Delancey, but I find the pairs of films share a remarkable sensitivity to “place” in historical terms, the way a specific place exists in our memory and how that relates to new generations in the same place, decades later, with all the social changes and major historic events that have come between: in a word, how the past in a given location informs (and in powerful ways can seem to “haunt”) the present in that same place.
Amazing !!!
Such Profoud Insight and Analysis of this film!!!
Thank you, much appreciated!
Carol Kane made me cry in this movie. Her enough is so perfect, so relatable. Finally, just, enough.
I am watching this now, for the first time.
First scene: European Jews new in USA would know nothing about this kind of dancing.
In Orthodox Europe, men and women did not dance together.
You can see this still, if you search UA-cam for Hassidic Jewish weddings. You’ll see how uncomfortable this “new” dancing would have been for these people.
Did anyone else notice the sign on the dance school wall?
“English spoken here,” and it was also written, the same thing, in Yiddish.
My grandparents came to USA in the 1930s: just in time.
Still, until my wonderful grandparents died, they spoke Yiddish in their home, but they never, ever called it Yiddish.
They spoke Jewish.
Have any other second gen USA Jewish also have grands who spoke Jewish?
I wish I had, whilst they were still with us, learned more about what their early life here was like.
And I watched only the first scene, and it spoke to me this much.
Oh, I feel that I must add that my Bubbe (grandmother) left her family in Lithuania: twelve siblings and her parents, plus huge extended family.
Only one survived the Einsatzgruppen (Ninth fort outside Kaunas/ Kovno, Lithuania.)
This one man later was murdered in Auschwitz II, Birkenau
May their souls find peace and their memories be a blessing.
The word Yiddish is derived from the German word for Jewish which is jüdisch and is pronounced virtually the same as the word Yiddish.
What a gem
Beautiful film.
Wonderful film. Some remarks:
Jake sews in a sweatshop, not really a tailor's shop. Please, the wife's name is not "Geetle." It's "Gitel."
It's well to note that even though these characters were from the Russian Pale of Settlement, there were many Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side who were from Austrian (really Austro-Hungarian) Galicia -- areas that are now parts of Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, etc. Also, many immigrants don't go through that full process of adjustment; many continue to speak their native language, and live in communities where they can survive without knowing much of the new country's language. It's their children, either young immigrants like Joey, or kids born in the new location, who more easily adapt and more fully assimilate.
The scene of Jake cutting his son's hair is about his cutting off the peyos, the longer hair grown out in front of the ears, than about his son's hair in general. Growing peyos is considered by some ultra-orthodox Jews to be a religious obligation for boys and men. As for the women covering their hair with wigs and scarves, by the 1890s (when this film is supposed to take place), many Jewish women in Europe had modernized and were no longer keeping that tradition. Even in Eastern Europe, there was increasing modernization and assimilation among many Jews. It's a myth that all European Jews were orthodox at the end of the 19th century.
It's interesting that you talk about the movie turning from Jake as the protagonist to Gitel, during the hair-covering scene. I didn't perceive it that way at all. Jake comes across as overbearing and obnoxious way before that scene; for instance, when he makes fun of the "greenhorn" newcomer in the restaurant, and when he's nasty to Gitel at the immigration office (probably intended to be Ellis Island). He seems like a narcissistic bully very early on.
Gitel was well aware that there was a different kind of man than Jake, this wasn't a new revelation for her. She used to think her husband was that kind of man, although probably not a scholar. What's new to her is the person he's become, not that Bernstein is anything new. Likewise, she didn't need to "learn to take care of herself." Clearly, she was quite capable of taking care of herself -- getting herself and her son to the U.S., fixing up the tiny apartment, and taking every cent Mamie had in the divorce settlement. She was quite aware of her own worth. She just needed to get her footing. Also clear from the end of the film, when she explains to Bernstein exactly how they're going to arrange their life together. Her quiet demeanor did not mean she wasn't tough.
One piece of exposition that would have been nice, would have been a quick mention among the characters of why, during the divorce scene, Gitel is told she must wait 90 days to marry, whereas Jake can remarry immediately. The reason is that it would take 90 days to make sure that Gitel is not pregnant with Jake's child before she marries someone else. In those days, before pregnancy tests, time was the only way to tell. Without that info, the viewer is left to conclude that this rule was weirdly sexist for no good reason.
Thanks for that historical context. In terms of who the protagonist is, I'd agree that Jake comes off as difficult to like from early on, but that doesn't mean he can't be a protagonist - as you likely know, movies are filled with unlikeable main characters.
But even while playing him as a jerk, Keats's performance is quite magnetic, and it's his motivations which drive the first half of the film. A viewer going into it blind (not knowing about Gitl's imminent arrival), would likely consider him the protagonist and the film to be one about his own process of coming up in the world as a recently arrived immigrant.
That's why the shift to Gitl and her pov is such a powerful part of the film (movies rarely make such a shift). I agree that her struggle to get to America (and whatever she went through at home) surely mark her as spirited and tough. But the 'portrayal' of her in her early scenes is one of meekness and fragility. Cinematically speaking, her emergence as a not only a powerful woman but (speaking in somewhat meta terms), somebody able of "taking over" the film, is one of the film's wonders . . . for me anyway.
@@AaronHunter I liked what you said about Charles Grodin in Heartbreak Kid, because it does apply here too-seventies films portrayed a lot of men who were jerks.
Actually, it's neither. Gitl. There is no e in the second syllable, and the sound is swallowed.
Interesting insights. Jake is not simply cutting Joey's hair. He is cutting off Yossele's side-locks, which are a hallmark of ultra-religious Jewish males, and never cut from birth onwards. Jake (Yankel) was obviously also brought up in an ultra-religous home (otherwise Gitl wouldn't have married him) and threw away his outward religious symbols (beard, side-locks and head covering) as part of his effort to assimilate into the Gentile American culture.
Thanks! That's a detail I definitely should have included in the video!
@@AaronHunter Cutting off the side-locks is considered a major sin, which mirrors the prohibition of harvesting the corners of one's field (an equally severe sin), which is by Jewish law lefty unharvested so that their produce will be left for the poor. Both show a defiance of G-d and lack of faith, because they push G-d out of the picture, of oneself and where the field's produce really comes from, and Who ultimately owns it. Cutting off the side-locks is like casting off the yoke of Heaven, denying G-d, and is thus a very devastating image of assimilation to American secularism and materialism.
This movie is incredibly underrated, loved it
How you could possibly fail to mention Doris Roberts?!? She makes the movie great!
It's based on truth surely?
When you said lay of the land you had a lilt.
Ha ha ... I've lived in so many places now, I don't know where some of my accent comes from!
So disagree about Stephen Keats. I find his presence in the film so horribly annoying - his language and his accent is simply awful - it jumps out like a very sore thumb.