As evidenced by the dozens
of horrible movies that he coproduced as a partner in Cannon Films, Menaham
Golan was a filmmaker who believed in excess. Yet his directorial efforts prove
that he possessed some small measure of skill, and that he occasionally
gravitated toward worthwhile subject matter. In the war between the two halves
of his cinematic identity, however, it seems the vulgarian always came out on
top. Consider The Magician of Lublin,
a film version of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s novel. The cast includes Alan Arkin,
Louise Fletcher, Lou Jacobi, Valerie Perrine, and Shelley Winters. The opulent
production values include vivid re-creations of Poland circa the early 1900s.
And the lofty storyline touches on anti-Semitism, greed, lust, and mysticism.
Alas, virtually nothing in The Magician
of Lublin works. Even when the occasional scene is moderately well-written,
some directorial choice makes the moment feel false. And whenever Golan reaches
for metaphor, he renders clumsy and grotesque melodrama. Seeing as how The Magician of Lublin is about a man
capable of charming nearly everyone he meets, this is a spectacularly charmless
movie.
Arkin plays Yasha, an obnoxious magician trying to secure lucrative
performance contracts even as he juggles multiple romantic entanglements. He
keeps company with a whore (Perrine), maintains a sham marriage to a troubled
woman (Maia Danziger), and dreams of running away with an aristocrat (Fletcher)
who makes it plain she wants a rich husband because her daughter requires costly
medical care. All the while, Yasha strings people along with promises of the
great things he will do in the future. The storyline gets strange and tragic as
the movie grinds through its 105 sluggish minutes, and it’s virtually
impossible to care about anyone onscreen. Arkin’s character is an overbearing
liar. Fletcher comes off like a zombie, generating zero chemistry with Arkin.
Winters is in full harpy mode, spitting and squawking like she was zapped with
a cattle prod before every take. Compounding the extremes of these
performances, Golan bludgeons every scene with the same flat loudness, ensuring
that the narrative lacks either a point of view or a sense of purpose. The Magician of Lublin is exhausting to
watch, and the viewer is left with nothing of consequence after the experience.
The Magician of Lublin: LAME
4 comments:
Referencing a previous question regarding Fred Williamson, how many more Menaham Golan movies from the 70's are there left to review?
Technically, none, as few of his 70s pictures had US involvement and many were in foreign languages. I'm very selective with foreign pictures for reasons of time management -- I try to watch just the important ones since the focus of the blog is American-made cinema, and Golan's non-US 70s films are not keystones of modern filmmaking. He did a picture with Laurence Harvey that I might get to at some point, because it's a European production in English, but that one's not a priority. Additionally, despite the risk to my sanity, I will take a look at Golan's disco dud "The Apple" for one of this blog's "1980 Week" features. Happy to leave Golan behind after all of that, though I do heartily recommend the current documentary about Cannon Films, "Electric Boogaloo." It's a fun survey of the company's atrocious output.
Thanks for recognizing the tongue-in-cheek tone of my question. I have seen the "Electric Boogaloo" documentary and highly recommend it to all.
In Kate Bush circles, this film is "famous". Because she recorded a song used on the soundtrack that was never otherwise released. Mostly because it's crap.
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