Ennemies: une histoire d'amour

When comedian Alan King passed away last year, I thought of his sweet performance in this should-be classic. One would not expect comedy to come from a story about Holocaust survivors, but this film takes the quirks of human behavior in the wake of tragedy and puts them on display, warts and all. I haven't read Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel, but I can't imagine him not being pleased with Paul Mazursky's winning adaptation. Poor Ron Silver though, he finally gets a lead role, and almost every scene of his is stolen by one of his three outstanding female co-stars.

Lena Olin has the showiest part as a fiery concentration camp survivor. Full of passion, bitterness, and paranoia all at the same time, she puts sex back into an era normally depicted as colorless and empty. I don't want to say too much about Anjelica Huston's role for fear of spoiling the intrigue each revelation about her character brings. She pulls off several humorous moments as well. But the real revelation is Margaret Sophie Stein. As Silver's wife whom he married out of gratitude, she is not as naive as she seems, and her performance anchors the film.

This movie snuck in under the wire at the tail end of the 'eighties, and seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle of high caliber end-of-the-year movies all seeking Oscar consideration. Some feel that its Best Picture nomination was stolen by Dead Poets Society. I am one of those people. But keep in mind that this was the year that Do the Right Thing was ignored in favor of more sentimental fare like Field of Dreams. Olin and Huston were nominated for their roles, but they lost to Brenda Fricker's tour de force performance as Christy Brown's mother in My Left Foot.

It bothers me that this film doesn't have more votes. Rent it, people!!! (Or better yet, buy a copy. When you see it, you'll want to.) You'll love the characters, and it's a great film to watch after you've seen something like Life is Beautiful. It is an unusual tale, but one I am glad someone thought to tell.

Paul Mazursky's best film but then he was working with great material, in this case Issac Bashevis Singer's novel about a Holocaust survivor who, having moved to America after the war, finds himself with three living wives; he's a bigamist more by design than choice, believing his first wife died in the concentration camps, he remarried in America, (now wife number three is a whole different story).

This is a great tragi-comedy; the situation is farcial and sometimes very funny but the horror of the Holocaust permeates every frame and Mazursky treats the material with the respect it is due. This is a movie that comes close to perfection from the superb period design down to the faultless performances of the entire cast.

Ron Silver is superb as Herman, a man confident enough to try to balance three relationships at once, convincing himself he loves all the women in his life, Angleica Huston, the wife who returns from the dead, Margaret Sophie Stein as the simple servant girl he marries after the war and Lena Olin as the clinging beauty who emotionally blackmails him into marriage. Herman is a liar and a cheat and a shyster but Silver makes him hugely sympathetic, an amoral man who, nevertheless, wants to do right by everyone but who is constantly doomed to failure. This is a great movie that deserves to be better known.

It's move over darling, with some extra twists. It's the ol "dead wife returns" story. A period piece, taking place in 1949. Ron silver is herman, the jewish writer, who has a very complicated life. A new wife, and a mistress too! It's a little bit brighton beach memoirs, or maybe radio days, with a side of tune in tomorrow. We can see how its all going to blow up in herman's face, at some point. Who has the emotional energy for all this?.. much less the financial means?? The women are all big emotional messes, so it's sometimes hard to watch... who would put up with all that?? But it's just the right amount tongue in cheek, so it all works! Lots of jewish culture thrown in. I do recommend this one. Even though herman is cheating with everyone all around, we're still rooting for the underdog. Very well done! The book must have been really well written. Novel by isaac singer. Directed by paul mazursky... was nominated for five oscars! One was for enemies.

I once read about how Paul Mazursky's career as a director has gravitated between very well done ("Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice", "Moscow on the Hudson") and what-was-he-thinking?! ("Scenes from a Mall", "The Flying Pickle"). Well, I can say with certainty that "Enemies: A Love Story" is one of his good ones. Portraying Holocaust survivor Herman Broder (Ron Silver) living in New York in 1949 and suddenly surrounded by three women (his current wife, another married woman, and his first wife whom he believed to be dead), the movie presents an eye-opening situation. It's like a slice-of-life story taken one step further. As the three women, Margaret Sophie Stein, Lena Olin, and Anjelica Huston do a very good job. Definitely worth seeing.

A man (Ron SILVER) barely survived the Shoah, but lost his wife and children. In 1949, he lives in Coney Island with his Polish lifesaver (Malgorzata ZAJACZKOWSKA), but has a mistress (Lena OLIN) whom he loves passionately. Then the wife (Anjelica HUSTON), who was believed to be dead, shows up again, and suddenly our hero has three women on his hands...

This extraordinary film was created based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner Isaac Beshevis SINGER, who wrote his works in Yiddish. Absolutely sexy, uproariously funny, but also deeply sad! It's about how you can continue to live as a survivor after the Shoah. In a world that seems so untouched by the horrors of the National Socialists. What could seem like a lively sex comedy turns out to be an existentialist drama about the strength and inability to continue living after the unfathomable.

There were ACADEMY AWARD nominations for Anjelica HUSTON and Lena OLIN in 1990. A cinematic gem that should definitely be rediscovered!