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My big, fat, Jewish-Kurdish wedding? |
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My big, fat, Jewish-Kurdish wedding?
19.7.2007 |
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July 19, 2007
Nice Jewish boy in Brooklyn dumps domineering Jewish
fiancée when he falls for lovely Kurdish Muslim
girl. Parents and relatives on both sides are
horrified, but are reconciled at raucous interfaith
wedding.
That, in a thimble, is the plotline of David & Layla,
the umpteenth updated version of Romeo and Juliet,
or, if you will, Abie's Irish Rose. (Why is it
almost always Jewish boy and shiksa and not Jewish
girl and goy, but never mind.)
What saves the film from triteness is the loving
insight it provides into the joys and sufferings of
the Kurdish people. The Kurds, like another Near
Eastern tribe whose name slips my mind, seem to have
been handpicked by their deity for endless miseries,
but defiantly preserve their humor and high spirits.
The main purveyor of high spirits is Layla, who
moonlights as an exotic but chaste nightclub dancer,
while awaiting deportation as an illegal immigrant.
Portrayed by Shiva Rose, a smashing beauty of mixed
Irish and Persian parentage, one wonders what she
sees in the rather nebbishe David (David Moscow),
but go figure love.
David's parents fall somewhat short of the Jewish
ideal. Despite his many infirmities, father Mel
pursues rather weird sexual adventures, at home and
away. Mother Judith may be the last Jewish maternal
stereotype who, when informed that a friend's son
has an Oedipus complex, utters, "Oedipus, Schmodipus,
as long as he loves his mother."
That one must date back to the time some Viennese
wit told it to Sigmund Freud for the first time.
Of course, the path to the altar is not without
obstacles. We won't talk about David's vasectomy,
which he underwent at the urging of his ex-fiancée,
but we have to face the sensitive issue of
conversion,
Who of the two should convert to the other's faith?
Layla makes the, I guess, sensible point that if she
converts "I have to jump into a pool and follow 613
laws," while all David has to do is repeat once
"Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet." |
Seated ON the bima of their shul, the angst-ridden
Fine family considers the prospect of their nice
Jewish boy's conversion to Islam Photo- Newroz Films
Release
The film is based on a true story of love between
Jewish New Yorker David and Kurdish Muslim refugee
Layla |
Fortunately, since David has already been
circumcised, that problem is out of the way.
All such niggling aside, if the goal of Jay Jonroy,
the film's writer, director and producer, was to
give Americans a glimpse into the lives of his
fellow Kurds in a painless lesson, he has done the
job.
Jonroy is a Kurdish refugee from northern Iraq, who
fled the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein, some of
whose atrocities are briefly depicted in the movie.
In their religion, Kurds practice a form of Islam
lite, which Jonroy compares to Conservative/Reform
Judaism vis-à-vis Orthodoxy.
In many other respects, judging from David & Layla,
Kurds are not unlike Jews in their hospitality, love
of food, vigorous wedding dancing, and various
meshugas.
Scattered throughout the countries of the Near and
Middle East, distrusted everywhere, some 35 million
Kurds have longed for centuries to establish their
own country, but it remains a far-off dream.
David & Layla opens July 20 in the US. Release dates
have yet to be announced here. For additional
background on the film, visit
www.davidandlayla.com
.
jpost com
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