Lent It Be

Charlton Heston as Moses parts the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments,"
the biggest box office hit of 1956, the second-highest grossing picture of the decade,
and one of the most successful films ever made.

Growing up in a Methodist household, come Eastertide, we would wonder why network TV annually showed “The Ten Commandments,” Cecil B. DeMille’s epic depiction of the biblical exodus of the Jews from enslavement in Pharaoh’s Egypt, when, after all, our liturgical calendar sets aside Holy Week – the last week of Lent – to commemorate the Last Supper, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

We scratched our heads over the glaring absence on the small screen of more seasonably appropriate fare like “King of Kings,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and “Ben-Hur.”

 

Leave it to the director of "Rebel Without a Cause," Nicholas Ray, to mix it up
in the depiction of the Last Supper in 1961's "King of Kings," making Jesus
(Jeffrey Hunter) the center of attention in a unique y-shaped formation of tables.

It wasn’t until years later that our expanded appreciation of world theologies enlightened us to the shared rites of spring that are Hebrew Passover and Christian Lent.

Passover observes the Jewish people’s liberation by God from slavery in Egypt (an event which never historically occurred, at least to the magnitude as related in Exodus or presented on film) and their freedom as a nation under the leadership of Moses (if he, in fact, ever existed), circa 1300 BCE. A hybrid of two ancient festivals - an agricultural celebration of the barley harvest and a pastoral ritual marked by the sacrifice of an animal to ward off evil – Passover takes place “in the month of spring,” as proscribed in Exodus 23:15. According to one web wit, Passover, like most Jewish holidays, has this recurring theme: “ They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat.”

This vintage engraving illustrates "The Angel of Death and the First Passover."

Unerringly, Passover occurs from the 15^th through the 21^st of the Hebrew month of Nisan (April 3 to April 11 on our 2015 Gregorian calendar). Passover commences with the evening Seder meal, a ritual feast of roasted lamb (symbolizing the blood of unblemished lambs that smeared the doors of Jewish thresholds as a sign for the Angel of Death to “pass over” their homes when the first-born of Egypt were slain before Pharaoh finally let Moses lead the Jews out of bondage), bitter herbs (signifying the bitterness of slavery), unleavened bread (representing the haste in which the Jewish people left Egypt), and four cups of wine (reflecting four expressions of deliverance promised by God in Exodus).

The first and last days of Passover are regarded as major Jewish holidays, observed with the same reverence as the Shabbat (Sabbath). The in-between days, known as “Chol HaMoed,” are treated as a festival, a time for family outings and picnic meals of matzo, hardboiled eggs, fruits, vegetables, and such Passover treats as macaroon cookies and homemade candies.

A lot of Christians, as they devoutly observe Lent, overlook the significance of the Last Supper as a fulfillment of the Hebrew Passover Seder, albeit a day early, on the 14^th of the month of Nisan. Jesus was, after all, Jewish.

Lent, the solemn religious observance shared by diverse Christian denominations, spans the 40 days before Easter Sunday, beginning on Ash Wednesday. The 40 days represent the number of days Jesus spent fasting in the Judean desert, where he was repeatedly tempted by the Devil, as well as the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the Sinai wilderness in exile after the Exodus.

Actually, the number 40 repeats significantly throughout the Bible. During the Flood, rain fell for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses spent three consecutive periods of 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai. Before the Jews crossed the river Jordan into the Promised Land, spies infiltrated the land of Israel for 40 days. Prior to being slain by David’s sling, the Philistine giant Goliath challenged the Israelites twice daily for 40 days. In the New Testament, 40 days passed from Christ’s resurrection to his ascension.

The timeless focus of Lent is the preparation of the believer through fasting and self-denial, prayer and repentance, and atonement and almsgiving. The thumb-drawn cross of ash on one’s forehead on Ash Wednesday as a symbol of renewal and humility goes back to the Old Testament. Job 42:5-6 reads, "My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."Traditionally, the ashes came from burning palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday.

Lent culminates in Holy Week, beginning on Friday of Sorrows (in pious remembrance of the Virgin Mary) and followed by Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (commemorating the Last Supper), and Good Friday (marking the Crucifixion), followed, of course, by Easter Sunday.

As to why Easter Sunday is a moveable feast, occurring on different dates from year to year, in 325 AD, the First Council of Nicaea (a meeting of Christian bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon (the full moon that occurs on or soonest after March 21, the date of the spring equinox). The date of Easter varies from March 22 to April 25, which is why Lent and Passover occasionally overlap and which is why we watch “The Ten Commandments” for Easter.

But there is more than “The Ten Commandments” and “”The Greatest Story Every Told” when it comes to movies about Passover and Lent.

I. “The Seder has power…It’s about us escaping from our own inner pharaohs.”

“When Do We Eat?” (2005), an independent comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family gathering for what the irascible father promises to be “the world’s fastest Seder,” really strives to be a “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” for Hebrews; some posters for the film even declared, “My Big Fat Jewish Seder.” Directed by Salvador Litvak, who wrote the screenplay with his wife, Nina Davidovich, the mishmash of discomfiting sitcom farce and treacly sentiment gave venerable character actor Michael Lerner the plum role of Ira Stuckman, the acerbic family patriarch, a Jewish who ironically manufactures Christmas ornaments and suffers interminably from acid reflux.

In 1992, Michael Lerner received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as ‘40s studio boss Jack Lipnick in the Coen brothers’ “Barton Fink.” In the 1988 film “Eight Men Out,” he portrayed Arnold Rothstein, the real-life Jewish-American racketeer who conspired to fix the 1919 World Series. He also played Jack Ruby, to Frederic Forrest’s Lee Harvey Oswald, in the 1978 TV movie “Ruby and Oswald.” Another 1978 made-for-television picture, “A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story,” cast Lerner as the Mayo Clinic doctor who breaks the bad news to the Yankees’ “Iron Horse” (portrayed by Edward Herrmann). One of Lerner’s more colorful parts was in the 1998 “Godzilla” as Mayor Ebert, a spot-on lookalike for Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert (paired onscreen with a mayoral aide named Gene who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ebert’s rival and broadcast partner, Gene Siskel).

Gene (Lorry Goodman) and Mayor Ebert (Michael Lerner) in "Godzilla":
The real Ebert noted in his review of the film that the screen characters were
a reaction by filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin "to negative
Siskel and Ebert reviews of their earlier films ('Stargate,' 'Independence Day')
but they let us off lightly; I fully expected to be squished like a bug by Godzilla."

Lesley Ann Warren, a talented actress probably most familiar to TV viewers, gives “When Do We Eat?” its heart as Ira’s second wife, a long-suffering stay-at-home mother. Jack Klugman, who lost a vocal chord to cancer in 1989, valiantly rasps his way through his role as Ira’s paranoid father (pictured below), who, after losing his wife, two sons and a daughter to the Holocaust, always carries a suitcase should he have to flee when the “bastards” come back.  (In The New York Times review, Neil Genzlinger made the snarky snap that Jack “no doubt wishes he were back in ‘The Odd Couple.’ ”) This was Klugman’s penultimate screen performance before he died on Christmas Eve in 2012 at the age of 90.

The remainder of the maladjusted family includes Zeke (Ben Feldman), dissed by his father as “the yutz,” a high schooler who enjoys recreational drugs (forced to undergo urine tests by Ira) and thinks he drugged his dad with an ecstasy-LSD cocktail; Ethan (played by Max Greenfield, an Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee for his role as “Schmidt” in the Fox sitcom “New Girl’), the black sheep of the family who, after failing in business, became a Hasidic Jew of dubious convictions; Nikki (Shiri Appleby, the star of the upcoming Lifetime series UnREAL”), a professional sex surrogate; Lionel (Adam Lamberg, who portrayed Gordo on Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire”), an “idiot savant” who reveals that he has been faking autism for years; Jennifer (played by Barbra Streisand lookalike Meredith Scott Lynn), Ira’s gay daughter from his first marriage; Grace (Cynda Williams), Jennifer’ Christian partner; and Vanessa (portrayed by Mili Avital, an award-winning stage and film actress in Israel), a family cousin seduced by Ethan (“Once removed,” he excuses himself with, “it’s a gray area”). Reluctantly invited to the Seder is family outsider Rafi (Mark Ivanir, who portrayed Marcel Goldberg, an opportunistic black marketeer, in “Schindler’s List”), an arrogant, eyepatched Israeli who may or may not be having an affair with Ira’s wife.

Michael Lerner and Meredith Scott Lynn share a laugh off-camera.

Some reviewers found the film’s flip-flop from “broad comedy to sticky drama,” quoting A.V. Club critic Nathan Ravin, “a tonal mess.” Reviewing the movie on the web’s DVDtalk.com, Scott Weinberg complained, “It’s all just a big, loud mess of a dinner party, and the characters start off so outlandishly obnoxious that it’s completely impossible to feel any sympathy when this broad…farce suddenly decides, about 70 minutes in, that it also wants to be warm and wise and wistful.” The New York Times’ Neil Genzlinger, who derided “When Do We Eat?” as a “sour little comedy,” accused director Salvador Litvak of making “a late, halfhearted stab” at respect.

On the other hand, in the Moviehouse, we appreciate the fact that real family dynamics can seesaw between the farcical and the sentimental, especially during holidays, and in the talented hands of Michael Lerner, Lesley Anne Warren, and Jack Klugman, the transitions are believable and moving.

Ethan (Max Greenfield) tells his parents, "The Seder has power. It's not just
about our ancestors escaping from the Pharaoh in Egypt. It's about us escaping
from impatience and anger and envy, from our own inner pharaohs."

II. “Lent is about growth and sacrifice through self-denial.”

In the 2002 romantic comedy “40 Days and 40 Nights,” John, a young Catholic priest-in-training, tells his troubled brother, Matt, “Lent is about growth and sacrifice through self-denial.” St. Paul, Minnesota native Josh Hartnett stars as Matt, a dot-com designer who, clueless about maintaining a meaningful relationship with women in the wake of a sour breakup with Miss Wrong, is inspired to take a vow of abstinence during Lent. “One, no sex,” he declares. “Two, no sexual stimulation of any kind – no nibbling, no biting, no scratching, no sucking, no fondling, none of that. And three, no masturbation.” John, who suffers temptations of his own, tells Matt, “Celibacy takes years of commitment, character and discipline, which quite frankly are not your best traits,” while Matt’s roommate warns, “It goes against nature. The male was biologically designed to spread his seed…It goes against science. You want to be the man who goes against science?”

One of the movie's most endearing scenes finds Matt (Josh Hartnett) and Erica
(Shannyn Sossamon) spending their first date on a day-long city bus ride.

Predictably, Matt then meets Erica, the woman of his dreams, and complications arise as he’s unable to consummate their relationship and his coworkers start an office pool to bet on when he gives in to his stifled urges. Reportedly, Ashton Kutcher and Katie Holmes were originally set to portray Matt and Erica but dropped out because of scheduling conflicts.

Griffin Dunne, best known as David Naughton's increasingly decaying pal in 1981's
"An American Werewolf in London" (left), has an amusing part in "40 Days and
40 Nights" as Josh Hartnett's horny boss inadvertently slipped a dose of Viagra.

Shannyn Sossamon (who played Heath Ledger’s love interest in “A Knight’s Tale”) is disarmingly captivating as Erica, while Josh Hartnett (best known for his roles as Ranger Chalk 4 leader Staff Sgt. Eversmann in “Black Hawk Down” and as the tragic hero, Danny Walker, in “Pearl Harbor”) “shows here,” in Roger Ebert’s words, “a breezy command of his charming, likable character.” On the other hand, The A.V. Club’s Scott Tobias noted, “Even Jack Lemmon in his prime couldn’t fake his way through the smutty one-liners and slapstick in ’40 Days and 40 Nights,’ which owes more to Bruce Villanch’s joke book than the screwball comedy tradition.”

In a very funny scene as the parents of the abstaining Matt and priest-wannabe
John, Barry Newman (star of the cult 1971 road movie "Vanishing Point") and
"Saturday Night Live" alumna Mary Gross share dinner conversation about the
number of sexual positions available to dad after his recent hip replacement.

In his review of “40 Days and 40 Nights,” Ebert praised director Michael Lehmann (whose eclectic résumé includes the cult black comedy “Heathers” and the deliriously surrealistic turkey “Hudson Hawk”), stating that Lehmann “has a sympathy for his characters that elevates the story above the level of a sexual sitcom. He uses humor as an instrument to examine human nature, just as he did in the wonderful, underrated ‘The Truth About Cats and Dogs.’ Amazing, what a gulf there is between movies about characters governed by their genitals, and this movie about a character trying to govern his genitals.” Unfortunately, the film’s good-natured sensibility is undermined by a nasty climax involving Matt’s spiteful ex-girlfriend, a scene Ebert rightfully deemed “offensive and unnecessary.”

III. “…A partnership was formed, Jews and non-Jews serving God together – a Biblical Olive Tree…”

Christian Holy Week and the Jewish Seder are combined in 2004’s “The Messiah: Prophecy Fulfilled,” a heartfelt and moving short film that modestly presents a Messianic Jewish perspective on Passover. Nick Mancuso, an intense Canadian actor who enjoyed a couple seasons of popularity on the mid-1980s mystery series “Stingray” (see below) portrays Yehudah, a respected rabbi who, a year after witnessing the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (called by his Hebrew name “Yeshua” in the film), returns to his hometown of Bethany, convinced that Yeshua is, indeed, the Messiah. “Through the prophets,” Mancuso proclaims in captivating, sonorous tones, “God spoke of a deliverer like Moses who was to deliver His chosen people…Yeshua fulfilled what was written…”

"Stingray," which aired for two seasons from 1986 to 1987, was created by
the late Stephen J. Cannell, the creator or co-creator of neary 40 TV series,
most of them crime dramas, including "The Rockford Files," "The A-Team,"
"21 Jump Street," and "The Commish."

Yehuda’s brothers are skeptical about his message, accusing him of trying to lead the family away from the teachings of the sages. As the family celebrates a painstakingly authentic recreation of an ancient Seder, Yehuda insists all he has done is discard the “dead traditions of man” without throwing away the scriptures. “I have acquired riches greater than man’s imaginings since Yeshua came into my life,” he declares, “and I have come home to share them with you.”

The family patriarch (Domenico Fiore) watches his son, Yehudah (Nick Mancuso)
break the unleavened bread for the Seder in "The Messiah: Prophecy Fulfilled."

“The Messiah: Prophecy Fulfilled” was the brainchild of writer Albert Israeli, who was born in Soviet Georgia. Overcoming decades of anti-religious indoctrination by Soviet authorities, Georgian Jews steadfastly maintained their customs and traditions in synagogues and in their homes. Israeli’s family moved to Tel Aviv when Albert was 12. Years later, when the parents realized that Israel was not a country “flowing with milk and honey,” they moved to Toronto.

Frank Israeli approached producer Frank DeLuca and director Giacomo Moncada of Canada’s Big Star Motion Pictures. Israeli later recalled, “Both Frank and Giacomo are Christians who dreamed that God would use them to advance His kingdom, and so a partnership was formed. Jews and non-Jews serving God together (a Biblical Olive Tree concept).”