Alan Furst’s novel, Midnight in Europe (Random House), is the first I’ve read by this author, and I’m quite impressed. Furst, an American, writes spy novels set in Europe on the eve of World War II. Previous works have included The Spies of Warsaw and The Foreign Correspondent. Judging by his latest offering, one can appreciate […]
Did you know that the great Polish violinist Bronislaw Huberman was the founder of a world-class Israeli orchestra? Huberman (1882-1947) was the prime mover behind the formation of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, which in 1948 changed its name to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Josh Aronson’s documentary, Orchestra of Exiles, explores Huberman’s career and his lasting […]
Have you ever heard of a movie that took 12 years to finish? The very idea seems ridiculous, if not downright silly. Why should an actor or a director commit to such an interminable project? And what about the issue of continuity? What if an actor dropped out in mid-course? Or died? What then? These […]
Now, more than ever, the Middle East occupies front and center in the daily news cycle. Israel is waging war against one of its arch enemies, Hamas, and an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, Hamas’ stronghold, remains a possibility. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a more extreme version of Al Qaeda, […]
Jan Grabowski’s measured but powerful book, Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland (Indiana University Press), caused something of a sensation when it was originally published in Poland in 2011. One can understand why it stirred such intense debate. Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa, writes about the […]
It was one of the most quixotic episodes of World War II, conceived in utter secrecy and ending in abject failure. On May 10, 1941, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s deputy, lowered himself into the cockpit of a twin-engine Messerschmitt aircraft and took off on a flight from Germany to Britain. He hoped his solo “mission […]
We’re all familiar with Hermann Goering, the bulky, self-indulgent Nazi who commanded the Luftwaffe, played a role in implementing the Holocaust and served as Adolf Hitler’s second in command. But Goering’s anti-Nazi brother, Albert, remains a cipher, an unknown quantity. Or at least until now. Thanks to Linda Parkhurst’s documentary, Goering’s Last Secret, available on […]
Satyajit Ray (1921-1992), one of the masters of the Indian cinema, is coming t0 Toronto through the medium of a retrospective of his prolific body of work. The Sun and the Moon: The Films of Satyajit Ray runs from July 3 to Aug. 17 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. A sampler: Aparajito (Friday, July […]
Andrzej Wajda’s The Promised Land, screened on June 17 by the Toronto International Film Festival and part of its ongoing retrospective on contemporary Polish cinema, transports us back to early 20th century Lodz, a multi-ethnic city in central Poland that brings the uglier aspects of the industrial revolution up close and personal. Based on a novel by […]
I was raised on Polish food with a Jewish accent, but after my first trip to Israel in the summer of 1967, I became hopelessly hooked on Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine, finding it fresh, flavourful and healthy. In Israel, I discovered the wonders of falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, lamb, beef and chicken skewers, roasted peppers, […]