Invincible (2001)

Different kinds of bravery

What attracted me to this film is that it is made by Herzog Werner and it is based on the real character. It is 1930s and Nazis are getting politically stronger. Hitler is on his way to assume power. In remote Polish village a young Jewish blacksmith gets a chance to go to Berlin and become a stage performer. His amazing physical strength is desirable in the entertainment industry and by changing his name from Zisha to Zigfried he become Nazi image of Arian superiority. As Zisha decides to confront his audience and his employer by disclosing in public that he is in fact Jewish, things start to unfold in a manner that no one expects. His seemingly brutal, egotistic and cynical employer is himsef a Jew who perhaps hoped that thru his occult powers and hypnotic tricks could influence Hitler and members of high ranking Nazi establishment. As he gets murdered, Zisha comes to realize that he will have to use his newly found personal power to define his purpose in his own life and the life of the Jewish people. Uneducated and simple, he senses that bad times are coming and hopes to spread prophecy to his people to unite, become strong and resist to the evils of the upcoming German nationalism. But God has a different plan for him and as it happens he dies in the hospital 2 days before Hitler comes to power and German starts to become threat to the rest of the world. The most powerful part of the film forme was Zisha's talk with the Berlin rabbi who speaks of 36 "justs" that are born in every generation. Some of them know that they have a purpose on earth and some die not being aware of what their purpose is. So when they die, the go frozen to Heaven and it takes God 1,000 years to warm them up to life again. Some may even take longer and every time it happens, God turns a clock of final resurrection a few minutes ahead. Zisha's heart and mind are pure in spite of his simplicity. We know that God loves him so much that it is not surprising to see him die as a martyr to his ideas and desires to save his people. This is a Herzog movie with characters one is used to seeing in his production. But the weakness of the film is a string of non-professional or simply poor actors. Tim Roth is mesmerizing in his role and in spite of his menacing character, he gets to be loved and accepted at the end. This film is a great spiritual lesson to anyone, regardless of their religious background. July 14, 2008

I change my mind: this film is not so bad after all.

The first time I saw Invincible I wrote a snarling review of it right here at Amazon, lambasting its premise and acting with the acute mechanics of a pompous, white-glove inspection. Then I saw it again, and I can honestly say I'm now a reformed man.

PLOT:

Zishe Breitbart, a Jewish worker with incredible strength, strikes an unlikely alliance with a Nazi mystic named Hanussen (Tim Roth) who is out to climb as high up the political ladder as he can. Although at odds initially, the two become friends and find each other to be the practitioners of hypocrisy and shame. As the Nazi party grows, Zishe's ethnic identity is at a greater level of risk of discovery, and Hanussen's own fraudulence becomes more apparent.

The theme of the film is the coming tide of Jewish holocaust in Europe. Only Zishe seems aware of what is about the happen, and the wise men of his community mock and question his sincere warnings. It is in these segments that the heart of the film roars out and we can hear the whispery voice of hindsight uttering out the words, "Listen to him. Please listen to him."
June 16, 2008

"Invincible" obsession

author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
August 30, 2002

In the 1920s, the son of a destitute blacksmith from Lodz, Poland, amazed the world with his feats of strength. Heralded as the modern Samson and the Iron King, Zishe Breitbart became a Jewish folk hero, twisting bars of iron, pulling trains by his teeth and killing bulls with his fists.

While other kids heard bedtime tales of princes, frogs and giants, my brother, Gary Bart, and I were weaned on the Circle of Death, a motordome balanced on the strongman's chest bearing two motorcycles chasing each other in a circle.

The fact that a Jew had become famous for his strength was remarkable; the fact that he was a cousin was riveting.

While I moved on to other things, the little boy who was my brother -- so fascinated with the strongman's heroic deeds that his friends actually began calling him "Zishe" -- became obsessed, and when "Invincible" opens in Los Angeles in September, my brother, the producer, will have realized a lifelong dream.

"I felt since childhood that I was on a mission to discover everything about him," he says, "and tell the world that at a time when there was a great perception of Jewish weakness, there was an enormously strong Jew who defended and inspired his people."

My brother's quest led him through archives and libraries where he discovered that almost everything written about Breitbart was in Yiddish, German, Polish, Czechoslovakian -- everything but English. He hired translators and researchers, placed ads in Jewish newspapers around the world, consulted curators and experts in circus history, vaudeville and the physical culture movement, even obtained nine original Breitbart circus posters from a dealer who had bought out the contents of a bankrupt East German museum.

A researcher he hired in Vienna uncovered the dramatic story of a conflict between Breitbart and a famous hypnotist named Hanussen (played in the film by Tim Roth), who eventually became Hitler's clairvoyant. In a sensational trial, each accused the other of defamation.

"I think what fascinated Tim about the role," Bart says, "was that here was a man who fancied himself the minister of the occult in the emerging Third Reich, who had published a newspaper that supported Hitler and raised funds to support anti-Semitic organizations, and who we later discover in the film is Jewish himself."

Getting the film made proved my brother almost as invincible as his hero. After working for a year and a half with an English playwright on a script, a producer friend mentioned the idea to famed German director, Werner Herzog, who accepted the project on the condition that he write his own script. "Although he would be faithful to the character and major events, he wanted artistic license to tell the story."

"When Werner finally agreed to do the film, I flew up to his home in San Francisco," Bart says. "We had a fine dinner. He opened a bottle of wine, and I said I thought it was a great leap of faith on my part turning the project over to him, a German, not a Jew, that I thought we could heal some wounds and be an example to others."

Securing financing for the film was accomplished through Fine Line for American rights and Channel 4 England for world rights.

Nothing prepared Bart, however, for the actual experience of filming in Germany -- a country that our dad would never set foot in because he had lost so many family members in the Holocaust -- or for eating lunch with actors dressed as Nazis, armed with authentic Nazi rifles.

The shtetl scenes were filmed in the Latvian village of Kuldiga. "Here was a formerly Jewish town that looked totally untouched by the war. It's exactly like all these photos you see. The only thing missing were the Jews."

Other scenes were shot in Vilnius, formerly Vilna, the seat of Jewish learning in Eastern Europe. "There's virtually nothing Jewish left there at all," Bart notes. "I searched for a mezuzah, or even nail holes where a mezuzah might have been, and found nothing."

Knowing that he would spend Passover in Germany, Bart had packed haggadot and managed to locate a kosher caterer in Cologne who brought everything: seder plate, matzot, even kosher wine. "Although only myself, the assistant director and head wardrobe designer are Jewish, the main actors attended, as well as Werner, who, being the consummate director that he is, started directing and virtually took over the seder!"

In all, Bart spent five months in Europe. "I felt a tremendous sense of responsibility," he says. "Since Werner is not Jewish, I wanted to be sure all things Jewish were done properly and that Breitbart's portrayal was true to his character."

September 1, 2007

A FABULOUS FABLE OF TRUTH

The Jews believe that each generation 36 Unknown prophets arise to bring God's warnings to the people. Unknown meaning either the prophet is an unwitting tool of God, or knows his vocation but is all but unknown to the rest of the world. In the Glitterati of 1932 Weimar Berliner society, when all manner of decadence rose to the surface and Hitler was trying his hardest to find some theological symbol with which to attach himself as Messiah, he was open to the occult and spent many millions in archeological searches for scripture or other signs which he could manipulate to make his people believe what he was doing was God's will just as another demented leader is doing today. The film is based on the true story of Zishe Breitbart, a Polish Jewish blacksmith's son who becomes a rising star in Weimar, Berlin as a mystical/mythical strongman. His employer (Tim Roth) Hanussen wants to establish an all-powerful Ministry of the Occult in Hitler's government and the strongman Zishe as the Aryan hero Siegfried, amidst his success, makes a moral decision based on prophecies he is receiving from God to become the New Sampson and fearlessly exposes his Jewishness to the demented Nazi crowd. The rest is history romanticized by Herzog. A beautiful, lyrical, poetic film, an epic tale of the signs which some believe God sends, and which the skeptics miss or mock. Roth as always is excellent, as the mysterious and sinsiter Hanussen, who though tinged with avarice and evil, shows a thin streak of goodness. The film should have won awards for cinematography and Original screen play, although there was a book from which Herzog worked. It was, at least, indeed breathtaking and inspiring. August 30, 2006

Underrated masterpiece!

I saw this DVD at the library many times before I actually decided to take it home and watch it. (I think it was seeing something else with Tim Roth that made me decide to get it.) The cover shows a picture of Tim Roth doing a mystical magician type pose and some dice in the background. Never having heard of this movie elsewhere, I assumed that this was some sort of circus/Vegas movie. Hmmm, I guess the joke was on me!

Not only does this movie have nothing to do with Vegas or circuses, but Tim Roth isn't even the star of the show even though he is the only name listed on the front of the DVD! Much to my surprise, this is a story that deals with pre-Holocaust Germany and Jewish persecution in the 30's. It is a story about a Polish Jew who finds his way to Berlin as a strong man working as a sideshow for the "Palace of the Occult." He stands up to the extreme prejudice he is faced with and ultimately becomes an almost cult hero of the European Jews.

The theme of the story really did surprise me, and I must say it was a pleasant surprise. Tim Roth was somewhat misadvertised as the star of the show, but he is terrific as a sleazy scumbag. Although the main character is played by a real "strong man" and not an actor, he is just fine in an endearing role. Because of the story's attraction and intrigue, I was able to overlook some potential weak spots.

Between a wonderful, traitorous villain, and a lovable, courageous hero, the components are there for a movie that will entertain and make you cheer. August 27, 2006

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