Unorthodox romance
‘The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch’ warmly depicts an Orthodox Jewish community in Switzerland.
The 2019 Envelope Live screening series continued Oct. 23 with “The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch” at the Montalbán in Hollywood. Submitted by Switzerland under its original English title, “Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey into the Arms of a Shiksa,” it is the country’s official entry for the best international feature Academy Award.
The Envelope welcomes a select audience of Hollywood guild members and awards voters during the season to consider some of the year’s most talked-about films, followed by Q&As with cast and filmmakers, moderated by journalists from The Times. For videos of these sessions, please visit latimes.com/screenings. The Times’ Michael Ordoña moderated the “Wolkenbruch” discussion with director Michael Steiner, lead actor Joel Basman, and supporting actress Inge Maux.
The comedy follows a young Orthodox man (Basman) in Switzerland whose romance with a woman outside his community causes much sturm und drang — especially with his overbearing but loving Mame (Maux). The film’s affectionate portrayal of the Orthodox community is richly detailed, but Steiner isn’t Jewish, so there was a learning curve. He benefited from being friends with screenwriter Thomas Meyer (adapting his own novel) and having lived near the film’s location.
“Basically, we reduced the Yiddish to, like, 500 words,” said Steiner. “Then we put it in the right grammar. That was a really beautiful thing, to work on that language, because that language is not often heard. It’s very related to Swiss German, but the grammar is completely different.”