The Magician of Lublin (film)
| The Magician of Lublin | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Menahem Golan |
| Screenplay by | Menahem Golan Sheldon Patinkin Irving S. White |
| Produced by | Menahem Golan Yoram Globus Harry N. Blum |
| Starring | Alan Arkin Louise Fletcher Shelley Winters |
| Cinematography | David Gurfinkel |
| Edited by | Dov Hoenig |
| Music by | Dov Seltzer Maurice Jarre |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Cannon Films |
Release date | October 1979 (C.I.F.F.) |
Running time | Germany: 114 min USA: 105 min |
| Countries | Israel West Germany |
| Languages | English German |
| Budget | $6,000,000 |
The Magician of Lublin is a 1979 film co-written and directed by Menahem Golan. The film is based on The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer. The title song The Magician was performed by Kate Bush.[1][2]
Plot
Yasha Mazur (Arkin) is a turn-of-the-20th-century Jewish stage magician, conman and mystic. He tours through eastern Europe for his show while at the same time destroying his own career progressively through his personal problems. Nearly everywhere he goes, Yasha has a local girlfriend, from the youthful Zeftel (Perrine), to the feisty Elizabeta (Winters). His burned out manager/impressario Wolsky (Jacobi) arranges for him to have one more chance at theatrical success, which requires that he pull off a never seen before trick in a Warsaw theater.
Principal cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Alan Arkin | Yasha Mazur |
| Louise Fletcher | Amelia |
| Valerie Perrine | Zeftel |
| Shelley Winters | Elzbieta |
| Lou Jacobi | Wolsky |
| Maia Danziger | Magda |
| Warren Berlinger | Herman |
Reception
The film was a box office and critical failure.[3] As an example, Time Out London wrote:
The subject matter is rare enough to be beguiling. Unfortunately Golan's treatment, with its mixture of art house pretensions and vulgarity, founders at precisely those points where it departs from Isaac Bashevis Singer's original Yiddish novel. Where that used clear-eyed tender realism to point toward ambiguity of experience and mystery, Golan overdramatises, tips into hysteria, and substitutes a specious mysticism that is sadly literal.[4]
References
- ^ "FAQ: rec.music.gaffa - Love-Hounds - Kate Bush". Faqs.org. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
- ^ Soundtrack at imdb.com
- ^ Fountain, Clarke. "The Magician of Lublin > Overview". AllMovie. Retrieved 2011-04-12.
- ^ "The Magician of Lublin Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2011-04-12.