Noel Debre’s French-language movie, A Nice Jewish Boy, deals candidly and fearlessly with a topic that some might prefer to sweep under the rug — the antisemitism that seethes in the “projects” of Paris, the ethnically Arab/Muslim neighborhoods populated by a dwindling number of Jews.
This somber film premieres on VOD and all leading digital platforms on September 19 and will be available on, among other sites, Apple TV, Amazon and Fandango at Home.
At the centre of it is a close-knit Jewish family consisting of a single mother, Giselle, and her 26-year-old unmarried son, Ruben. Giselle (Agnes Jaoui) and Ruben (Michael Zindel) have lived in a high-rise apartment building for many years, during which time all its Jewish residents have departed and been supplanted by Arabs and Africans.
“We the only ones left,” Giselle says plaintively.
That their neighborhood has changed irretrievably is evident in the very first scene. When Ruben drops in at a kosher butcher to buy a chicken for their sabbath meal, he learns from its proprietor that he is closing the store for good and transferring it to another location.
Being pragmatic, Ruben purchases a chicken at a nearby Muslim butcher shop. And being protective of his reclusive and ailing mother, an observant Jew who faithfully obeys the rules of kashrut, he initially refrains from telling her where he bought it.
Ruben, described by the narrator as “a proud Israelite,” outwardly agrees with his mother’s besieged outlook. Secretly, he feels comfortable in the neighborhood, notwithstanding his awareness that an antisemitic incident can flare up at any moment.
The antipathy that some Muslims display toward Jews surfaces in several sharp and telling scenes.
An Arab electrician whom Giselle has hired for a job leaves abruptly after spying a mezuzah on her door. Ruben’s acquaintance, a young African Muslim, says, “I don’t really like Jews, but you’re cool.” And before Arab thieves break into their flat, Ruben overhears one of them say, “They’re Jews, they must have money.”
Yet, in a brief scene toward the end of the film, several generous Arab women show they are not ill-disposed toward Jews.
Given the generally anti-Jewish atmosphere that prevails in the neighborhood, Giselle feels defensive. At her request, Ruben takes krav maga combat lessons so that he can properly defend himself should he be attacked by an antisemite. Concerned about his future, she urges him to meet and marry a Jewish woman. Under no circumstances should he date an Arab, she says.
Giselle also encourages him to make aliyah, but in the same breath, she warns him not to enlist in the Israeli army and claims that Israelis are swindlers.
Ruben’s estranged father, an Orthodox Jew, urges him to study in an Israeli seminary and advises him to marry and settle down.
Ruben’s non-Jewish girlfriend, a married woman with a son, thinks he should remain in France. Later, out of curiosity, she asks him to say something in Hebrew. In a moment of levity, he recites a few lines from a Passover prayer.
A Nice Jewish Boy, a usually taut film ably directed by Debre and brightened by convincing performances, deftly delves into the problems that Jews like Ruben and his mother face in contemporary France.
It is not a pretty picture.