In a rapidly changing New York of the 1980s, a Russian Jewish teenager wrestles with his identity, faith, and sexuality, all of which seem irreconcilable until he befriends two closeted men in his grandfather's senior housing complex.
Samuel H. Levine Ron Rifkin Christopher McCann Richard Topol Mark Margolis Brooke Bloom Alex Hurt Carson Meyer Zane Pais Eleanor Reissa Gera Sandler Michael Broadhurst Lawrence Jansen Chris Perfetti Chinaza Uche Zuzanna Szadkowski Lili Rosen Jonathan Raviv Elizabeth Loyacano Amir Levy Mark Bruk Riley Barnes Drew Reade Sacha Seberg Peter Von Berg
Minjan, 祈祷班, Миньян, Minján, מניין, 민얀, O Despertar da Juventude, El despertar de la juventud, 我的G本教義
Germany16
Berlin International Film Festival
Taiwan
Taipei Film Festival
Russia
Moscow Jewish Film Festival
USA
USA
USA
UK
Hungary18
USA
UK
Germany
Hungary
Russia
Taiwan
UK
USA
Decent performance, stunning cinematography of the 1980s New York with atmospheric visuals and some attention to cultural detail.
Speaking about the story, I rather they could just focus on one theme and executed it well instead of put so much but lack on development. I appreciate the film for talking about sensitive topics but I feel like there’s too much to take in. Some themes seem underdeveloped, the film ends up being dull and really slow on the pacing.
Accepting your sexuality is overwhelming in the best of circumstances but doing so while reconciling this burgeoning identity with a strictly religious upbringing is a whole other coming-of-age ballgame. Several films have tackled the complex internal reckoning that takes place during this process but, at least from the ones I've seen, few of them feel as carefully restrained and introspective as Minyan. This is a thoughtful and quiet story that accomplishes an impressive amount of graceful storytelling with spartan settings and extended silences. The performances in this are clearly shaped by the experience of Eric Steel, the film's writer-director, and even though some of the restraint used comes at the detriment of more tightly-paced and arresting drama, it simultaneously makes…
This was disappointing. It sounded promising: the coming of age and coming out story of David, a young Russian Orthodox Jewish immigrant in Brighton Beach in the 1980s. It has the themes you'd expect - cultural and religious sanctions around homosexuality, loyalty to family and finding one's own identity in an extremely traditional culture. But it is super slow, and multiple themes are underdeveloped or left hanging. I struggled with a desire to fast-forward through to the end.
For a film centered on a young man, there was a strong focus on aging and loss. The young man's grandfather (well-played by Ron Rifkin) is recently widowed and the family uproots him from his home of many years to a subsidized…
simply beautiful to see a film connecting its two portrayed minorities in such a mature way and actually showing what it means to explore your sexuality while not losing the innocence of it all. absolutely loved how affectionate and playful the sex scenes felt. also the fact that giovanni's room by james baldwin played a major role had me squeaking. we definitely need more explicitly horny jewish gay films
Someone in the theater asked their phone how long the movie was and Siri responded that Minions was 91 minutes long
Memory is no substitute for love.
The emotional power of Eric Steel’s debut creeps up on you. Even on my second viewing, its thoughtful structure and understated central performance take their time to accrue full force.
For what’s ostensibly a gay coming-of-age film, it’s telling that David never comes out to anyone. He has related experiences of sex and grief. (The cemetery scene is beautifully edited.) Just as his character stays silent in many key scenes, letting his eyes convey his feelings, his evolution is mostly internal. It’s external to the extent that he becomes an advocate, focused on someone other than himself. Through death and fucking, through literature and observing people, he’s learning how to live.
As a gay film, as a Jewish film, as a New York film, this packs a wallop. Here are my thoughts from my first viewing.
Instead of zeroing in on one theme and developing it well, this puts everything in its 80‘s drama pressure cooker: coming of age, AIDS crisis, housing crisis, Jewish identity, Holocaust, bullying, displacement, James Baldwin etc. The result is meandering and leaden. Focus, people, focus!
"Being alone is also a cause of death in and of itself"
doeu.
A heartfelt feature debut that’s rich with specifics and seems like the rare 80s period piece to completely avoid pop nostalgia in favor of a tone of exhaustion and grime. In other words, Steel remembers the actual decade, not just its marketing.
It feels true throughout: the grubby little New York apartments, the acne on David’s cheek, the flushed faces and curled toes when they’re fucking, Itzak’s and Herschel’s toothbrushes in their cheap little cup. It’s all got a bone-deep sadness while still feeling fully alive.
There’s a very brief fight scene that’s jump-cut to perfect effect, and a wonderful, spare klezmer score throughout.
In the lead, Levine has a soft, handsome face, and his reticent David often has parted…
It's fine! Solid performances anchor this, but it doesn't really have anything new to say despite its heartening exploration of a unique microculture - with director Eric Steel developing characters in a way that feels natural rather than forced.
New York Jewish Film Festival 2021
I think this was my favorite film thus so far in the festival. A film that touches many subjects but yields a dense drama in it’s 2 hour runtime. This film really had me committed the entire time. The topic of sexual identity, especially in it’s 1980’s backdrop really captured the struggle that protagonist faced. Coupled with the housing circumstances, religious upbringing, added the overall nature of being a teenager.
The cast was absolutely solid and the various moments of silence were delivered well. The way this film uses cinematography really dialed in the various moods with no dialogue. Samuel Levine comes off as a very brooding character but his ability to express emotion…
