Great Barrington — The Triplex Cinema will screen the movie “A Real Pain” followed by a discussion with Hevreh Synagogue Senior Rabbi Jodie Gordon on Thursday, December 12, at 7:30 p.m.
The movie, which was released this year, follows two Jewish cousins, Jesse Eisenberg as David Kaplan and Kieran Culkin as Benji Kaplan, who come together for a tour of historical Holocaust sites in Poland to honor their deceased grandmother. Eisenberg also produced and directed the film.
“A Real Pain” addresses a shared family history between the two cousins and the generational trauma of the Holocaust. “The movie is smart and funny, which is a great way for any conversation about a film to start,” Gordon told The Berkshire Edge. “But it also addresses something very serious because the cousins travel to a place where, just two generations ago, their family suffered. For a movie not only to be smart and sensitive but also to be humorous is a beautiful thing.”
Gordon said that the movie examines questions of how the Holocaust should be remembered. “The movie asks how the Holocaust should be portrayed in the modern idiom through the eyes of these third-generation Jewish cousins,” Gordon said. “It’s interesting to see art coming into the world that addresses questions about how we remember the Holocaust, not from the perspective of survivors or even their children, but from their children’s children.”
Gordon said that the title of the movie itself is telling about the movie’s plot. “The movie’s title indicates that there is something we understand as intergenerational trauma,” Gordon said. “It’s important for audiences seeing this movie to understand how the events of World War II and the Holocaust impact people who are alive today.”
“As a rabbi, my goal is always to invite discovery and curiosity,” said Gordon. “It’s one thing to say that we have to teach the events of the Holocaust, but it’s important that people know about the history. There is a starting point when it comes to teaching about the Holocaust, but there needs to be a way to take it to the next level. I think that this is something that this film does elegantly and beautifully. The movie opens up conversations, and it says that the Holocaust is not a closed book in history. If you can memorize a few facts and figures, you’ll know what it means. But I think the Holocaust needs constant examination and re-examination. We should ask questions about how hatred impacts our world today and what we can learn from the events of the Holocaust that might be important for us to keep in mind in today’s world.”
Gordon added that it is important to keep the conversation going about the Holocaust, despite it ending almost 80 years ago. “As time goes on, there are fewer and fewer survivors that are alive to tell their own stories themselves,” Gordon said. “We are nearing over 80 years since the end of the Holocaust, and many of these people who survived and who were able to be those primary sources are dead. To continue making art about it, to continue opening conversations about it and telling stories, I think it’s an important first step.”
To buy tickets for the December 12 screening, visit The Triplex’s website.
For more information about Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, visit their website.
