A Generation Apart

In contrast to the slew of commercial dramas that have cashed in on the Holocaust, this superb documentary on the relations between survivors and their offspring is honest, vigorously questioning, and, in terms of sharing experiences, a genuine gift. Brothers Jack and Danny Fischer, in their mid-thirties, feeling the weight of their parent's past and wondering about their own identities, gathered the family together for a soul-searching session. Over the course of the conversation, harrowing memories become the catalyst for exposing raw present day feelings. In particular, the elder son Joseph's resentment at being the 'replacement' for lives lost, and his constant need to keep the Holocaust at arm's distance, as opposed to his father's complaint that he doesn't understand his son, emerges as the pivotal theme in the film. Another relationship, between Mary and Shelly Gelfman, echo that of the Fisher's. Like Joseph, Shelly turned to art. In the most moving scene of the film, Mary Gelfman tells her daughter: "I feel that I owe all my children an apology." And her next remark touches on all the horror, confusion, and injustice that produced the Holocaust: "I don't know who owes me an apology." Highly recommended.