Ben Apfelbaum

THE TENTH MAN : PART OF THIS YEAR’S JIFF FESTIVAL

Over the years I have enjoyed both the Israeli and Jewish Film Festivals and I have never seen a bad Argentinian film. That optimistic critique hit a brick wall after viewing this film.

THE TENTH MAN tells the story of Ariel (Alan Sabbagh) an Argentinian economist, He is returning to his hometown Buenos Aires to introduce his dancer girlfriend to his father. She is supposed to follow Ariel a few days after his New York departure. Before he even leaves New York his father Ashek is making requests of Ariel on behalf of his friends. Upon his return to Once, the Jewish district of Buenos Aires, the requests multiply alarmingly. Ashek is a macher, a big shot in the district. He is like the Godfather but without the criminality and menace. He distributes food and pharmaceuticals to the impoverished jews of the ghetto who have a misguided sense of entitlement. Ariel is hoping to reconnect with his father who conveys his request by mobile phone leading Ariel to meet all sorts of eccentrics and misfits. All this is conducted in schmaltziness. This sounds charming and the publicity describes this is a Valentine by Burman to the district in which he was raised.

This film is not charming and the district rather than being warm and colourful is depicted in dim grays, washed out whites, and claustrophobic interiors. Burman either for budgetary constraints or perhaps as a devotee of cinema verite dispenses with decent lighting and a tripod such that much of the camera work is murky, jerky and haphazard. I also had difficulty with the subtitles which flashed onto the screen too quickly so I only saw about three quarters of the dialogue. Given what I saw and heard of that fraction, I didn’t miss anything in the remaining quarter.

It seemed to me that Burman thought that is he threw some kosher ingredients into the mix such as mikvahs (ritual baths). Tefillin (phylacteries), familiar liturgical yiddish and hebrew melodies and songs, and demanding schnorrers that this will create delight. How misguided he was. I was always hoping that the film would take off but it was charmless, hard to view, unengaging, lacked wit and humour, and above all was unentertaining.

What is particularly disappointing is that is if anybody could relate to this film the Buenos Aires jews like my father were polish galicanes (from Southern Poland). I had an Uncle Ashek, a lovely man, and members of my family experienced some of the elements of the storyline. I knew these people intimately. However the filmmakers script, cinematography and haphazard characterisation totally alienated, and the film didn’t even have a proper conclusion. In a word, disappointing.

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.