About The Film
40th Anniversary Screening
In this provocative drama based on Chaim Potok’s bestselling novel, frictions over tradition and modernity test the vexed friendship of two Jewish teens from different religious factions in 1940s Williamsburg. Reuven (Barry Miller) is the son of a worldly progressive scholar; Danny (Robby Benson) is the son of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi (iconic Oscar-winning actors Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger play the fathers). Though ideologically split, the boys bond around their love of stickball, until a rift over the creation of a Jewish homeland prompts painful choices and a search for one’s own destiny. Director Jeremy Kagan crafts a nuanced, authentic portrayal of Hasidic life and post-WWII turmoil within American Jewry.
Film Details
