דאָס ייִדישע צװײַגעלע - The Little Yiddish Branch

Hello all,

I thought I'd start a small series of posts titled קלאַנגענפֿילם, meaning a film with sound (a talkie). These will be films in yiddish or containing spoken yiddish.

How better to start than with the classic film Uncle Moses, a story of exploitation and unionization.

To quote J. Hoberman: "Uncle Moses stands as one of the finest examples of Yiddish cinema and is unique in its portrayal of a despotic Jewish factory boss who takes pleasure in seeing the tables turned by employing the former leaders and highly respected men of his shtetl as sweatshop tailors. Uncle Moses is a harsh man who uses his wealth and power to fight against unionization of his shop (by a young idealistic Jew) and manipulate women, especially the daughters of his workers. -J. Hoberman, Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds