Content: Hester Street
The first film the students will analyze and critique is Hester Street. Hester Street was directed by Joan Micklin Silver and released in 1975. The film is based on Abraham Cahan’s novella called Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto, which was published in 1896. During this time in the 19th century, Russian Jews immigrated to America to escape religious and political persecution. By 1924, close to two million Eastern European Jews had immigrated to America's shores.1 The assimilation for many Jewish immigrants from Russia, Poland, and German vary in degree. The film addresses this conflict with poignant scenes in various contexts: social, labor, domestic, and religion.
Silver starts the film with the main character Yankle (whose American name is Jake) who is dancing with various women at a dance academy in the Lower East Side of New York City. The viewer sees right away the dance instructor is encouraging the patrons to learn new dances and meet new people. Silver develops the importance of social context with the different close- ups of interested men and women looking at each other from across the room. Each close-up reflects the shy nature of the women as they try to learn the new dances. Each close up of the men reflects a different tone. Jake is eager to meet women and glances at several women. Jake has a romantic dance with Mamie, yet the camera pans so that the viewer can see that other potential suitors are close and eager as well. Jake dances Mamie into Mr. Lippman, a very wealthy businessman who is attracted to Mamie. This scene is purposeful, because it is the subject of conversation in the next scene.
The intimacy Silver creates with Mamie, Jake, Joe Peltner, and another woman sitting at a café table after the dance lesson is beautiful and alluring. The camera presents this double []date as if we the viewer are sitting at the table, listening and arguing each character’s point. The lighting on Jake and Mamie is aesthetic, yet the irony in their words attempts to break that intimacy. Jake says, “In America, you marry for love, that is all.” Jake presents love as an ideal. Yet, as soon as Jake turns to Mamie and rests his eyes on her, she becomes frazzled and mentions she has saved money. Silver has to establish that money is more important to these characters than they think. It is the driving force of the plot.
Mamie remarks that she saved money and wants to contribute financially to a marriage so that her identity is upheld. Silver develops this conflict authentically, because Mamie is a beautiful and articulate woman who left Poland at age 17. For six years, her assimilation into America was based on pride and independence. Her hat and fan are fashionable; her dress is contemporary. She is flirtatious and confident with Jake in the hallway and on top of the roof. Silver depicts her in this way to show the stark contrast in Jake’s wife’s appearance when she first arrives in America later in the movie.
“I have a bed all to myself” is the first lie of many Jake tells Mamie. Jake is married with one child. His wife and son did not arrive in America until after Jake’s father dies. Jews, more than any other European group, historically migrate with families.2 The family bond was important to Jewish families, because they have great respect for their ancestors and lineage. This value was tested by immigration, because fathers and husbands went to America first to find a job and place to live. Silver wanted to portray a story in which assimilation into America for Jake allowed him to take advantage of being a bachelor. If Silver then had Jake abandon his family, his story would be over. The character would be weak and one-dimensional. Yet, Jake is quite defensive when many of his friends and coworkers were astonished by the fact that he has a wife and child. “I never said I was single!” shouts Jake. Silver allows the tone and arrogance of his voice to dominate, because we can easily detect the phoniness in that rebuttal. All of Jake’s actions speak to the contrary.
Another crucial scene in Silver’s faithfulness to the story of Jewish immigration is America in the 1890s is when the group welcomes and scorns a new character. This new character is a young man who just arrived to America and Mamie says right away, “scared to death.” She is shaming the new immigrant. Silver has the camera positioned so it looks like Mamie already has her back to him, waving her fan and swatting him away like a fly. The woman across from Mamie at the table holds her nose alluding to the young man’s odor. Jake takes off his hat in a very assertive manner. “How do you like America?” asks Jake. Of course the young man knows very little English and only wants to find his cousin, but the characters around the table do not help him. They proceed to make fun of him. Jake forgets that the young man cannot drink his tea without his hat on his head and without saying a prayer. His prayer in Yiddish is beautiful and simple and utterly mocked by Jake and the other people at the table. This scene is a testament to the fact that Jake has forgotten his beliefs and religious practices. Silver wants to develop this tone of arrogance and perceived wealth to contrast with the arrival of Jake’s wife, which is the turning point of the film.
Jake’s wife, Gitl, is the most fascinating character within the movie. It is no surprise that Carol Kane, the actress playing Gitl, received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1975. Gitl is so happy to see her husband when she first arrives in America with her son. She has on a wig, plain dress, and no makeup. Her husband is unhappy and withdrawn. Proving their marriage to the immigration officer is painful and discriminatory. Silver presents the immigration officer like a judge, as having too much authority and power. Jake barks at Gitl and wants her to present the marriage certificate that is eloquent and written entirely in Yiddish. Once alone in the apartment, Jake has his back turned to Gitl. She is trying to be intimate and loving, but Jake makes fun of her appearance immediately. Yet, Gitl is in awe of her husband’s appearance. “I didn’t know you at first. I thought you were a nobleman,” says Gitl to Jake in Yiddish. The whole scene is shot with the actors’ backs facing the camera. Silver creates a sense of yearning and premonition that Jake’s back will always be turned to Gitl and the viewer. He cannot forego his bachelor life with Mamie and New York City despite the arrival of his wife and son.
Gitl is smart and knows that her husband is not the same man [] she married in Russia. At first, she tries to attract his attention. She becomes “more American.” She takes English lessons from Mr. Bernstein, a man who lives with them in their apartment and works with Jake at the sow shop. The most amazing scene is the one in which she tries on a corset and hat with feathers. The hat is sitting high on top of her wig. When Jake doesn’t come (the viewer knows he is with Mamie), she walks into the room and rips off her corset and hat. Then she takes a deep breath and sits in front of the mirror on her bed. This is exceptional, because Silver has Gitl really see herself for the first time. Gitl laughs at herself. We laugh along with her. The moment is made clear: she knows that her husband is cheating, she knows that she is unhappy, and has to figure out how to make this work.
Gitl’s final attempt to save her marriage is when she shows Jake her real hair for the first time. In biblical Judaism, the rule was that married women cover their hair. The Talmud, oral law of Judaism, is followed strictly by Orthodox Jews. Jake erupts and tries to physically rip the hair from Gitl’s head. Silver wants to establish that there is nothing left for Gitl to do. Jake doesn’t love her. It is a violent scene, because we know how much effort Gitl has put forth to win back the approval of her husband. Jake throws kitchen objects and Gitl is sobbing and fixing her hair. The film interrupts this domestic fight with the presence of their son, landlady, Mrs. Kavarsky, and Mr. Bernstein. Divorce is inevitable.
Silver took a risk with this twist in the plot. Mamie sends a lawyer to Gitl’s home to convince her to accept a divorce from her husband. Mamie wants to marry Jake and offers Gitl $50.00 at first. Gitl doesn’t budge. The lawyer continues to raise the amount as the awkward stare and silence of Gitl continues to scare him. The viewer is skeptical, because this scenario seems implausible and challenges the authenticity in Silver’s representation of Jewish immigrants assimilating into New York City. Why would Gitl talk to a lawyer who is representing Jake’s mistress? Gitl accepts the divorce from her husband, but she receives the $300.00 from Mamie. Under Jewish law, the man must initiate a divorce, but Silver adds this complication to the plot to develop situational irony.
Situational irony is when the unexpected happens. Jake has no idea that Mamie bribed Gitl with money and has no idea how much money Gitl received. Jake is marrying Mamie for her wealth and savings and maybe not for the idealism of love he so strongly expressed in the first scene at the coffee shop. Silver took a risk in developing this irony, yet it serves a greater purpose and allows a more analytical discussion of the character’s weaknesses.
In terms of discretion, teachers have to make a decision whether or not to show the whole film. In our seminar, our leader, Brigitte Peucker stated that it is important to show the whole film. It is a complete story, and the film’s integrity is slighted if the viewer does not see the whole film. Yet, teachers are responsible for the decorum of their classrooms. Silver really wants the viewer to understand Jake’s flaws and his complete schism from his wife and family. Jake sleeps with a prostitute. Teachers will have to make a decision about whether or not to show this scene. Silver had to develop this scene; it completely destroys any empathy we might have for Jake towards the end of the film. Students will be able to trace Jake’s demise without viewing the scene. I teach seventh grade. I won’t show the scene. It is not crucial in our discussion and analysis of how immigrants adjusted to life in America in the 1880s. I often find that my students will watch films that we watch in class on their own, so I might have to draft a parent letter stating this reason for cutting the scene from our classroom discussion.
Content: West Side Story
West Side Story first premiered as a Broadway play in 1957. The movie was produced four years later. It is interesting to note that Jerome Robbins directed and choreographed both mediums: the theatre production and movie. When you watch the movie, the viewer feels as if he or she is watching a theatrical performance. The first aerial scenes of the city are completely forgotten when camera zooms in on the Jets leaning against a playground fence and snapping their fingers to the rhythm of the music. It is captivating and mesmerizing. It is like seeing the performance at a theater house in New York City in the 1950s. Even when the actors stop dancing, the vibrant colors of their clothes and the aesthetic city streets continuing draw the reader into this theatrical performance.
Again the teacher needs to determine whether or not the whole film can be shown to the class. The violent scenes are theatrical. There are not scenes that I would think are inappropriate for my sixth or seventh grade students. It is a long movie with many musical numbers that do not reflect or develop the themes of assimilating or adjusting into a new culture. Yet, the music and performances are powerful and beautiful that a teacher could decide to show the whole movie after school or in the auditorium as private showing. For the purpose of this unit, I selected four scenes that are important for the students’ analysis and evaluation of immigration for Puerto Ricans in the 1950s in Manhattan, New York City.
The first scene for analysis is when we first met Anita and Maria in the sewing shop. Maria is pleading with Anita to lower the neck of her dress. The rapport between the two characters is harmonious and charming. Maria announces “Bernardo, it is most important that I have a wonderful time at the dance, because tonight is the real beginning of my life as a young lady of America.” Students interpret and suggest why Maria says this with such confidence and delight. This is the first time we see the importance of the film medium and its ability to let the characters turn a scene into something magical. Wise and Robbins transform Maria into a kaleidoscope as she twirls by herself, clearly adoring her new dress made by Anita. It is in that moment that we are magically brought into the dance in the gym. It is an example of how film is highlighting the appeals of a theatrical performance.
The dance is a choreographic delight. The dance is developing a narrative style for the characters by allowing them to tell their story of rival gangs in choreography. It is entertaining yet demonstrates the schism felt by the two different gangs: Sharks and Jets. Two gangs are opposite each other on the dance floor wearing two different color schemes. Most of the students will be in awe of this theatrical performance, but Wise and Robbins focuses on Maria and Tony’s first meeting with the absence of sound. When sound and music fill a screen and are then taken away, it is a powerful moment in the development of the plot. Viewers know that this is a turning point for the characters. Wise and Robbins fade away the background of the dance to emphasize Maria and Tony walking towards each other and being attracted to each other for the first time. The film only does this once. The background of the city streets and other characters never fades away again, because you cannot hide or run away from who you are or where you live despite falling in love.
The third scene for analysis is when the Sharks are on the rooftop after the dance. Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics and Leonard Bernstein composed the music to “America.” The alternating bars of six eighth-notes in two groups of three with three quarter notes is a unique characteristic of the song and tempo which is a trait of Huapango, which is a Mexican folk dance.3 Anita is praising America because it offers her more opportunities than she had in Puerto Rico. “Buying on credit is so nice,” sings Anita. Bernado rebukes with “One look at us and they charge twice.” Students will have to determine which character is correct in their interpretation of Puerto Ricans living in Manhattan in the 1950s. Over 4,200 Puerto Ricans were estimated to have arrived in the United States each year in the period between 1946 and 1956, 85 percent of whom would settle in New York City.4 Most immigrants worked in manufacturing companies, which was different than the farm labor they left behind in Puerto Rico. The musical number is describing the discrimination felt by many Puerto Ricans in the 1950s when they migrated to various metropolises, like New York City. The choreography is designed to show the boys versus the girls and their opposing viewpoints plays upon the frame story concept: a story within a story; a fight within a fight.
The final scene for analysis is the concluding scene with Maria finding Tony’s dead body on the basketball court. There is one essential understanding about immigration students will interpret: gang violence. Dr. Lewis Yablonsky, a criminologist and sociologist who worked with gang members in the 1950s, says West Side Story was an accurate reflection of gang conflict.5 Gang violence was a result of feeling misunderstood and forced to live in certain areas of the city where clean housing, adequate hospitals, and high performing schools were not accessible. Maria and Tony’s love story happened more often than perceived and the Daily News, the New York Mirror, and the New York Herald Tribune reported an increasing number of shootings and stabbings. In this scene, Maria changes from a young girl who is innocent and hopeful about her chances for a happy life in America to a broken and hateful widow who has hate for her community. In this culminating scene, there is no dancing or singing. Maria is wearing red, which represents her passionate nature and all members of each gang circle Maria crying over Tony’s body.
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