Klezmer On Fish Street

Yale Strom's ragged, unfocused documentary is driven by the fairly straightforward question, "Can you have Jewish life and Jewish culture in Poland without any Jews?" Strom, a veteran of documentary investigations into various aspects of Jewish history and culture, was struck by the proliferation of evidence of Jewish revival in European communities whose Jewish residents fled or died during the Holocaust. In particular, he noticed the appeal of klezmer music to Jews and Gentiles alike. Klezmer was a product of Eastern-European Yiddish culture; its distinctive rhythms and deeply emotional melodies transcend language and can move listeners who understand none of the l...