Despite three Jewish-themed films being nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, we went home empty-handed.
Oh, but you know who did win? “The Jew Hunter,” or Christopher Waltz for his turn as Nazi officer Hans Landa in Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds.
The Israeli contingent was also dissed. Over the years our Israeli brethren have had 9 films nominated. How many took home the Oscar? None.
Should we take it personally?
The answer depends on whether the particular films were worthy of claiming the trophy in their respective categories. While we enjoyed the mix of comedy and sobriety of A Serious Man, was it the year’s Best Picture? Underdeveloped concepts, such as the dybbuk theme, left us wanting more from this Coen Brothers’ movie. An Education, which explores anti-Semitism in 1960s Britain, is well crafted, but probably too small of a picture to catch such a big fish of an award.
Since gratuitous, violence doesn’t turn us on, we stayed away from Inglorious Basterds – despite it being a Jewish wet dream. Readers will have to fill us in on the Oscar-worthiness of Tarantino’s latest efforts.
