Powerful

Crappy film

A different way of telling a story

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

An outstanding masterpiece detailing the story of Cardinal Lustiger, who at age 14 converted to Catholicism to escape the horrors of the holocaust which claimed his mother and left a bitter father.Despite his conversion, the Cardinal, who rose rapidly in the church, always wanted to continue his cultural identity as a Jew, even pointing out that he was still a Jew and using Jesus as an example. He rose rapidly in the church hierarchy and tries to strengthen Catholicism to adopt to the modern world by use of the media.It shows his relations with his family and the second part of the film deals with the nuns living at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp which caused much controversy in the late 1980s. Lustiger fought on principle for the removal of the nuns, even in the face of an intransigent church.In the title role, Laurent Lucas is magnificent as the conflicted Cardinal. A totally under-rated film which needs much more widespread distribution.

I just saw this film at a Jewish film festival, and found it very thought-provoking and emotionally disquieting-- which I mean in a GOOD sense. I am neither Catholic nor Jewish, and so when I saw that the French title, "Le Metis de Dieu" points to a more universal phenomenon than the English title "The Jewish Cardinal," my cinephile self had more reason to regret the difficulty of procuring a broader distribution.The psychological, historical, cultural, and philosophical complexities of this make the 90- something minute running time something of a marvel, and indeed leave the viewer wanting more, while already feeling treated to an experience that goes far beyond the genre of "biopic," or "docudrama" would lead one to expect. The eccentric, often petulant man, navigating between the different cultural identities within himself while confronting the real- world challenges that history has set in his path is a full-blooded, multidimensional character and not an object of reverence.Meanwhile, as the camera travels from Orleans to Paris to Rome to Auschwitz and returning again to scenes of childhood and family, we witness a visual feast that surpasses our "made- for-TV" expectations.

According to direct Ilan Duran Cohen in response to his drive for bring the true story of Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger to film, Cohen stated,'Lustiger was always emphatic about his duel identity. In an early interview as Archbishop, he said, "I was born Jewish, and so I remain, even if that is unacceptable for many. For me, the vocation of Israel is bringing light to the goyim. That is my hope and I believe that Christianity is the means for achieving it."Lustiger was a champion of interfaith dialogue and "The Jewish Cardinal" explores these intricacies of balancing faith, family and identity. In a scene in which nuns settle to build a convent within the walls of Auschwitz (where his mother died in 1943), his Jewishness comes most sharply to the fore and Lustiger finds himself a mediator between the two communities.'A bit of factual data: Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger 17 September 1926 – 5 August 2007 was a French cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Paris from 1981 until his resignation in 2005. He was created cardinal in 1983 by Pope John Paul II. Lustiger was born Aaron Lustiger in Paris, to a Jewish family. His parents, Charles and Gisèle Lustiger, were Ashkenazi Jews from Będzin, Poland, and had left Poland around World War I. Lustiger's father ran a hosiery shop. Aaron Lustiger studied at the Lycée Montaigne in Paris, where he first encountered anti-Semitism. Visiting Germany in 1937, he was hosted by an anti-Nazi Protestant family whose children had been required to join the Hitler Youth. Sometime between the ages of ten and twelve, Lustiger came across a Protestant Bible and felt inexplicably attracted to it. On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 the family moved to Orléans. In March 1940, during Holy Week, the 13-year old Lustiger decided to convert to Roman Catholicism. On 21 August he was baptized as Aaron Jean-Marie by the Bishop of Orléans, Jules Marie Courcoux. His sister converted later. In October 1940, the Vichy regime passed the first Statute on Jews, which forced Jews to wear a yellow badge. Although Jean-Marie Lustiger lived hidden in Orléans, his parents had to wear the badge. Lustiger, his father and sister sought refuge in unoccupied southern France, while his mother returned to Paris to run the family business. In September 1942, his mother was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where she died the following year. The surviving family returned to Paris after the war.Lustiger's father tried unsuccessfully to have his son's baptism annulled, and even sought the help of the chief rabbi of Paris. Written by director Cohen and Chantal Derudder, THE Jewish CARDINAL relates the true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger (Laurent Lucas) the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, who maintained his cultural identity as a Jew even after converting to Catholicism at a young age, later joining the priesthood. Quickly rising within the ranks of the Church; Lustiger was appointed Archbishop of Paris by Pope Jean Paul II (Aurelien Recoing) - and found a new platform to celebrate his dual identity as a Catholic Jew; earning him both friends and enemies from either group. When Carmelite nuns settle down to build a convent within the cursed walls of Auschwitz, Lustiger found himself a mediator between the two communities - and may be forced at last to choose his side.The acting and the setting and the glorious musical scoring enhance this little film well. It is a powerful film to experience not only because of the quality of craftsmanship that produced it, but also because of the profound message eh film's subject offers for consideration. We are all one.

I just came back from seeing this today at the Jewish Film Festival and it was absolutely wonderful, I highly recommend it. A movie that takes on the identity of Judaism and Catholicism, the separation, and hopefully reconciliation of our humanity... when faced with such difficult issues as a convent on Auschwitz, and how one can maintain one's Jewish identity, while believing in a path of Jesus, without renouncing one or the other, though so many from both schools believe you should take a side so to speak. I feel very similar in my life, born a Jew, having had my deepest spiritual experiences in life with God and Jesus, but also of Buddhism... this is how I reconcile the dichotomy... A Jewish Seed, grows in the love of God, the love of Jesus, and the wisdom of Buddhism. This movie was challenging but loving, beautiful, and intelligent. I guess people really did smoke that much in the '80s, eh?