Image by Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

After he reviewed Lawrence Baron’s “The Modern Jewish Experience in World Cinema,” we asked contemporary Jewish film scholar Nathan Abrams for his choice of the best recent Jewish films. Below are his choices (in no particular order) of films over the last few decades that have made a significant impact in challenging stereotypes worldwide.

“La Haine” (France), Mathieu Kassovitz
A French goy playing a Jewish skinhead; a French Jew playing a goyish skinhead. What’s not to like?

“The Big Lebowski” (USA), Coen brothers
“I’m shomer f**kin’ shabbes.” ‘Nuff said.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“The Governess” (UK), Sandra Goldbacher
That rare creature: an excellent British Jewish film. Beautiful and lyrical with a strong female Sephardic heroine at its heart.

“Black Book” (Netherlands), Paul Verhoeven
Verhoeven does for the Jewish heroine what he did for female serial murderers in Basic Instinct.

“Inglourious Basterds” (USA), Quentin Tarantino
Not quite the “Jewish porn” Eli Roth promised it to be, but his portrait of Shoshanna is superb.

[“The Believer” (USA), Henry Bean][1]
A Jewish neo-Nazi, wrapped in a tallit, in a right-armed Nazi salute, while chanting “Va-zot haTorah…” Does challenging cinematic stereotypes get better than this?

“Homicide” (USA), David Mamet
Mamet brings Midrash and Torah to the age-old questions of identity and dual loyalties. You see, you see?

[“Europa Europa” (Germany), Agnieszka Holland][3]
Does for foreskin what Schindler’s List did for the Holocaust.

“Borat” (UK), Larry Charles
Too many scenes to mention but “the Running of the Jew” has got to be one of the most imaginative Jewish moments ever conceived.

“Munich” (USA), Steven Spielberg
Food and ethics intertwine to challenge not just America’s response to 9/11 but Israel’s targeted assassination policy. And can anyone beat Eric Bana’s angry Israeli impression?

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/Believer-Ryan-Gosling/dp/B00049QQJ6/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1329174613&sr=1-1 &tag=thefor03-20 [3]: http://www.amazon.com/Europa-Marco-Hofschneider/dp/B00007KQ9X/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1329174727&sr=1-1 &tag=thefor03-20

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount