Movie News: Sacha Baron Cohen To Play Mossad Agent, The Jewish Undertones of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’
Have Pixie Cut; Will Travel: Mia Farrow on the set of “Rosemary’s Baby.” Image by Getty Images
Spring is finally, mercifully upon us. For the first time in months, barring a few anomalies, I walked around with my coat unzipped, breathing in the sweet, fresh, warm air of Manhattan’s Financial District. It was sublime. Yet, as Stravinsky knew well, spring and its mysteries can ignite a primitive flame within us. So I wasn’t surprised to see two grown men come close to blows this morning after one ignored a stop sign and nearly ran over the other.
This week’s movie news echoes the mystery, beauty and latent horror of the season; read on for our musings on “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the Cannes Film Festival, “Rosemary’s Baby” and more.
1) The 2018 Cannes lineup shows a marked gender imbalance
The Cannes Film Festival announced its 2018 lineup and people are, well, a little bummed. The festival will not feature hotly-anticipated works by Claire Denis, Harmony Korine, Terrence Malick and several other esteemed directors. Plus, its main competition includes only three female-directed films out of 17 total. “Star Wars” fans will be pleased, however: The festival will screen “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in its non-competition section.
2) Is “Rosemary’s Baby” about the Holocaust?
As Nathan Abrams notes, Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” “helped reinvent the modern horror genre” when it was released fifty years ago. But is this tale of a pregnant newlywed preyed upon by neighbors in a “satanic coven” really full of allusions to Polanski’s Holocaust-haunted childhood? Abrams believes so; he argues here that the film’s Jewish roots are hiding in plain sight.
3) Why hasn’t anyone seen this IDF-commissioned film about military suicide?
18 years ago, according to the Forward’s A.J. Goldman, the IDF’s film unit was given “unlimited resources” to produce a film about suicides in the Israeli military. The result, a film called “The Disappeared” starred well-known television actor Lior Ashkenazi — most recently seen in “7 Days in Entebbe” (2018) and “Foxtrot” (2018) — but never saw the light of day. Instead, Goldman writes, it “vanished without a trace.” He spoke to the filmmakers to find out why “The Disappeared,” well, disappeared.
4) There’s a Jewish odyssey behind “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Stanley Kubrick’s Jewish roots are relatively well-known, yet few might guess that one of his most famous films, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” has Jewish roots too. Nathan Abrams explored the secret Jewish history of “2001” for the Forward, 50 years after its release.
5) Sacha Baron Cohen’s next role is a big change from Borat
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Borat joined the Mossad? In a surprising dramatic turn, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest movie probably won’t answer that question for you. Cohen will star “in a limited Netflix release about the Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen,” Jenny Singer writes. If Eli Cohen’s life story is any indication, the series will be thrilling: He was a “dazzling bachelor” and spy who was executed by the Syrian government for espionage.
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.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion My Jewish moms group ousted me because I work for J Street. Is this what communal life has come to?
- 2
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 3
Fast Forward How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory
- 4
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion This Nazi-era story shows why Trump won’t fix a terrifying deportation mistake
-
Opinion I operate a small Judaica business. Trump’s tariffs are going to squelch Jewish innovation.
-
Fast Forward Language apps are putting Hebrew school in teens’ back pockets. But do they work?
-
Books How a Jewish boy from Canterbury became a Zulu chieftain
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.