TWO MAJOR WORKS

 

In show business, as in so many other facets of life, timing can be (and most usually is) “of the essence.”

So it is with We Were The Lucky Ones, the eight-part mini-series on HULU dealing with the lives of a family of Polish Jews  at the time of the Holocaust.

I have seen more than my share of films on this subject, been to Yad Vashem in Israel, visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., and The University of Southern California Shoah foundation. Still, I am not one of those who feels compelled to explore and examine this terrain repeatedly. In fact, more often than not, I have consciously made the decision to avoid seeing yet another film based on this horrific time in the history of mankind.

The riots on our nation’s college grounds, the re-emergence of virulent antisemitism here in America and throughout the world, the daily news broadcasts, have altered my reluctance and all but compelled me to pause long enough to tune in to this very excellent dramatization of a family at a time of existential crisis. Turns out, this piece of history is as relevant today as it ever was. Too bad.

There are eight episodes and I commend you to this beautifully wrought piece of film making with a special admonition to my grandchildren to watch, with the hope that others of their generation will as well, if for no other reason than perhaps we will all finally be able to agree on the definition of genocide.

History aside, the art of this mini-series is truly exceptional. The acting ensemble, particularly the women featured in this production, is one of the finest I can recall, and I will stand by that assessment even though I had to view much of the last few hours through tear-stained eyes.

Over a hundred years before Hitler’s “final solution,” in another part of the world, humanity came together for a much more positive purpose, dramatized beautifully in John Adams, an HBO mini-series dealing with the creation of the United States of America. This is not Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, nor is it Broadway’s 1776. These are seven hard-hitting, well-produced mini-series’ episodes that have been languishing on my “to-watch” list since the show’s debut in 2008.

Paul Giamatti stars in the title role with Laura Linney portraying Abigail, his wife and confidant. Both actors are fabulous in these roles.

You can see it today on MAX and it is very worthy of your time and attention. Made in the days when HBO was the master of this kind of picture making, the production and cinematic values, as well as the casting, are all spot-on. As if to prove the efficacy of that statement, the mini-series went on to win 13 Emmy awards from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Maybe you should see this one after We Were The Lucky Ones… could just be that it will give you some hope for mankind. Whatever you do, don’t let another 16 years pass before you tune in.

 

Barney Rosenzweig