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| Shira Haas as Esther Shapiro in "Unorthodox" |
Several months ago, our beloved daughter got us hooked up to an Amazon Fire Stick. It has been useful for watching the BBC i-player - catching up with programmes that have passed by. At first we were reluctant to venture into "Netflix" territory but finally succumbed.
She recommended a four-episode drama series that came onto "Netflix" at the end of March. It is called "Unorthodox" and is largely focused upon a young woman called Esther Shapiro - or Esty who effectively escapes from the stifling expectations of a strict Jewish Hasidic community based in Brooklyn, New York.
Esty flees to Berlin where her mother lives and attempts to embark upon a new secular life - that is until the past tries to catch up with her.
Delivered in an intriguing mixture of Yiddish, German and English, "Unorthodox" is a beautifully crafted quartet of episodes which ends with some hope for the future. Esty is physically small and vulnerable. Her part is played sympathetically and convincingly by a young Israeli actress called Shira Haas.
I enjoyed "Unorthodox" immensely. There was no killing and no detectives solving crimes but there was a tender story and there were several excellent performances. You felt lost in this drama and to me that is how great drama should affect you. Convincing and absorbing.
If you have access to Netflix, perhaps you will give this mini-series a try.
We just finished watching this last night, and it was well done and very thought provoking. I learned a lot about a culture I knew very little about.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed it too Jennifer. Religion is such a weird thing.
DeleteI loved it and it gave my daughters a crash course in orthodox Judaism. It was also very visually beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find many more treasures in streamed services.
I agree that visually this series contained a lot of eye-catching imagery. As you say - beautiful.
DeleteAlways satisfying when you see a film with a story line that is positive.
ReplyDeleteI get sick of drama that involves killing and the solving of crimes.
DeleteThanks for the review. This does sound like a series worth watching. I'll have to add it to my Netflix list.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get round to it, I think you will like it Bonnie.
DeleteI will inform the keeper and operator of the remote. I'm sure we shall enjoy this. Have you seen "The English game" on Netflix. It's highly recommended!
ReplyDeleteYes. We did watch that Christina. Fame for Blackburn (and Darwen) at last!
DeleteI don't have Netflix but this series sounds worth watching, last but not least because an old affinity of mine with Yiddish.
ReplyDeleteWell - that's intriguing. You really are a librarian "with secrets".
DeleteIn the name of your (and most endearing) thirst for knowledge, YP, and I do not wish to diminish Librarian's claim of an "old affinity … with Yiddish": The German language is peppered with Yiddish, for the obvious reason that it was/is one the main "dialects". Sure, you may find that if, now, you'd ask some youngster or even middle age oldster where a certain word originates from they wouldn't have a clue yet those Yiddish words (and sayings) are alive and well. To this day.
DeleteOn which happy note, the first time, alas not the last, my mother asked me "Where do you take your Chutzpah from?" was when I was fourteen. Chutzpah. Now there is a fine Yiddish word.
U
Thank you for adding the explanation, Ursula, otherwise YP might have gone meshugge over my secret :-D
DeleteMy affinity with Yiddish goes a little deeper than that, it touches on religion and history (and my personal religious history) as much as on the language.
Hi YP, still here but taking a small break.
ReplyDeleteI used to stream Netflix and Amazon and all sorts of other things from my desktop pc but Amazon always played up. I then purchased the Fire stick and all is well.
I really loved this series and learnt a lot from it. There is another orthodox Jewish series on there but not as good.
Hope you are keeping safe and be back soon. (there's a tune there I think, lol)
Briony
x
Fare thee well,
DeleteBut be back soon
Who can tell
Where danger's lurking?
Do not forget this tune
Be back soon.
Is Helen Shapiro in it YP? Seriously it looks a good filum.
ReplyDeleteHelen Shapiro could have been Esther Shapiro's mum... but she wasn't!
DeleteSounds interesting, I shall look out for it on Netflix.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you will be disappointed Sue.
DeleteWe watched it and loved it! I wish the series had more episodes.
ReplyDeleteYou also have good taste Steve (and Dave).
DeleteDear Mr. Pudding: Congratulations on your fine blog and your international army of loyal followers (not the faux-llowers, who traffic in a certain canned meat product from Austin, Minnesota, USA) - Yes, "Unorthodox" looks like an interesting show (you might like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel", too, if you dare to make a foray into Amazon Prime), but I'm posting here because it's a more recent, more noticeable place to post comments about your "Referring" post from January. I found you because you mentioned some of the skeezy sites that are referring bots and scammers to your site, and an Ecosia dot org search led me to you. You were complaining about the same phenomenon I'm running into with my blog. Anyway, my sympathy and solidarity. Did Meike the Data Security Expert ever come through with further explanation?
ReplyDeleteAlso, congratulations on your The Headland book! Have you been getting good sales and reviews?
p.s. Sheffield vs. Birmingham vs. Manchester - How do you compare them with sweeping personal generalizations?
Hoping to see this series soon but I have watched the "making of" video on YouTube followed by an excellent interview between Arnon Grunberg and Deborah Feldman the author which I would highly recommend.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished watching the 6 part adaptation of Philip Roth's book The Plot Against America which was riveting but unfortunately it does contain quite a bit of violence. Has some interesting parallels with today's "fake news" problem.