[HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE) screens Thursday October 9th at 7:30 pm at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival.]
Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.
There
are a precious handful of documentary features devoted to the history
of a single song (not "Cleveland Rocks," sorry). One concerns the blues
dirge about American lynching, "Strange Fruit." Another focuses on the
widespread left-wing revolutionary anthem "The Internationale." And now
comes the motion-picture version of "Hava Nagila," the stereotypical
Jewish wedding/celebration music. You don't have to be Jewish (but it
helps) to enjoy filmmaker Roberta Grossman's dissertation. And I dare
say, it's more entertaining than hearing about lynching and communism
over the long haul.
"Hava Nagila" is so thoroughly associated with Jewish culture and identity that some believe it dates back to Old Testament times. But this is false. The tune is actually a Ukrainian Hasidic melody from the 1800s, to which lyrics were put in 20th-century Palestine by Zionist composer A.Z. Idelsohn - or, possibly, his adolescent prot‚g‚ Moshe Nathanson. There has actually been a lawsuit and royalties controversy and bad blood between two prominent Jewish families over this, oy veh! Palestinians, you may now chortle smugly.
"Hava Nagila" is so thoroughly associated with Jewish culture and identity that some believe it dates back to Old Testament times. But this is false. The tune is actually a Ukrainian Hasidic melody from the 1800s, to which lyrics were put in 20th-century Palestine by Zionist composer A.Z. Idelsohn - or, possibly, his adolescent prot‚g‚ Moshe Nathanson. There has actually been a lawsuit and royalties controversy and bad blood between two prominent Jewish families over this, oy veh! Palestinians, you may now chortle smugly.
