Minyan (Hebrew / English)

Religion and sexuality always make for a good combination when you are making a film, but there is a lot at stake when you try to merge two taboo subjects, especially when its your first full length feature film as a director. In this drama set in 1980s in Brooklyn, when AIDS had started to loom over people's head, we see the story of David, a 17 year old teenager of a Russian Jewish background, is in the process of discovering himself through sexual trysts and religion and his "duties' towards his family. By the way, A minyan is a group of ten Jewish men, which Jewish law mandates must be present for certain prayers.

After his grandmother’s death, David’s grandfather Josef must downsize apartments. When a highly coveted spot opens up in subsidized housing at a religious center, which needs more men for its minyan, David is just the prize to help Josef’s application standout, despite the wait list. The unorthodox living arrangement suits David because this gives him break from his abusive father and an overbearing mother. David also keeps giving side glances to the nearest gay bar across the street, but may as well be a world away. He develops a kind friendship with the two old men who are Josef's neighbors. Their wives were friends before they died, and they’ve been living together ever since, or so says the building gossip. Meanwhile David is having random sexual encounters with me exploring himself. It's only when one night he gets too drunk and is taken home by a bartender does he see some warmth. He feels a connection with him and thats the only time we see David in some hot and pretty sex scenes. But he also realizes that this may be short lived since eventually every gay man has a trick up his sleeve (as told to him by another gay man in the bar). When one of the older guys of the couple dies, David goes to bat for Herschel to be allowed to stay in the apartment, which in some way also starts to affect his relationship with his grandfather. In the end, the building decider lets the other person stay saying “Thieves, adulterers, homosexuals. I take them all. Without them, we would never have our minyan."

This film is slow, with complex characters and unhurried screenplay that lets things slowly unfold on your screen. This is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Having said that this is a very very interesting study of David and what becomes of him and how teenage growing years are the ones that eventually make you the person you are. In the beginning of the film itself we see that how much community, family and prayer define David's life. The whole innocent bond that David ends up having with the old couple is done so well and poignantly. We wont know for sure if they were closet gays but David does end up making an emotional bond with them. At the same time, David finds more carnal outlets for his sexuality, cruising parks or the local library, and his curiosity eventually outweighs his fear as he enters an East Village gay bar for the first time. This would not have been easy in 80s, for a Boy with Jewish background. The entire star cast is very good but special mention to David. His eyes speak volumes when he is not talking and you know exactly what is going on in his head, just through the glances he gives to people, places and books. I will e the first to admit that even though I may not be able to connect with the Judaism aspect of the film but it would be no different had it been any other religion. Thankfully David doesn't have to make a choice here between religion and caste, the film is more coming of age  for David who is grappling with, his attraction to men, and what he represents to his family and community: Can he be both Jewish and gay?

At almost 2 hours long, the pace of this film is really slow and that is my only big complaint with the film. Besides that, this film is definitely a rewarding and interesting experience. (7.5/10)