Talmud (2007)
In this authoritative documentary, director Pierre-Henry Salfati traces the history of the Talmud the repository of millennia of Jewish wisdom. In doing so, he posits the question: What comprises this cardinal text of Judaism? Originally passed down orally from master to student, the Talmud is the hidden face of the Torah, or Old Testament. It is a vast body of legal, mythic, and philosophical texts, and a mixture of religious commentary and debate, of history and science, and of anecdote and humor. No other text has had such an influence on Jewish life as it details the principles, ethical codes, and laws that serve as a guide for conduct. In addition to an exhaustive exploration of the Talmud, the film also guides the viewer through the history of Jewish communities, concluding with present-day New York.
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Excellent but underrated film
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Salfati's documentary deals with one of the most important writings in the history of mankind and the most important in the history of the Jewish people - the Talmud. The gathering of Jewish thinking and teaching and their repercussions on the day-to-day life is well traced in the history - since its beginnings immediately after the destruction of the Second Temple and the start of the exile, through it's wanderings all over the world in all places where Jews went, until the modern time when the Talmud and the Jewish people had to face the most terrible challenge of history and destiny during the Holocaust. Although a little bit didactic in tone and style the documentary succeeds to pass a lot of information, and underline the basic idea of the centralism of religion and Talmud in the survival of the Jewish people. I was less impressed with the comic interludes (at least they tried to be comic) which seemed to me to force the note and were not really in tune with the rest of the film. Overall a documentary to see more because of the information than for its artistic qualities.