Enemies: A Love Story

Based on Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel, this powerful drama, set in a meticulously recreated post-WWII New York, examines a potent dilemma: Herman Broder (Ron Silver) is a man with three wives. Married to the Polish peasant girl Yadwiga (Margaret Sophie Stein), who sheltered him during the Nazi reign of terror, Herman maintains a tie out of a sense of obligation, but his heart is really set on Masha (Lena Olin), a sultry mistress who demands a Jewish wedding. Into this already heady mix walks Tamara (Anjelica Huston), Broder's presumed dead wife. As Tamara tells Herman, he is, indeed, a "lost man." Indecisive to a fault, Herman runs from one woman to the next and back again whenever he is called on, unable to fathom the workings of his collective harem's heart--let alone his own. Director Paul Mazursky, predominantly concerned with the relationship between the sexes (An Unmarried Woman, Down and Out in Beverly Hills), has found in Singer's story a veritable goldmine of comic and tragic possibilities. Sporting a spiffy new digital transfer and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, Enemies also features a somewhat slow commentary track by Mazursky that mixes technical, narrative, and gossipy tidbits. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)