{"id":43988,"date":"2024-04-12T01:49:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T08:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=43988"},"modified":"2024-04-10T14:07:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T21:07:45","slug":"ed-asner-shines-in-final-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2024\/04\/12\/ed-asner-shines-in-final-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Asner shines in final role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed Asner gives a remarkable performance in Tiger Within, which is part of the online Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, April 15-19. <\/i>(tigerwithin.info\/press-photos<\/a>)<\/i><\/p>\n

I had the privilege of interviewing Ed Asner several years ago. It was an experience I (and my mother, who also got to speak with him) won\u2019t forget. So, it was with some sentimentality that I watched his last film, Tiger Within<\/i>, which can be screened online April 15-19, as part of the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, which has other movies being presented at the Rothstein Theatre April 12-14.<\/p>\n

Asner, who died in 2021, gives a wonderful, understated performance in Tiger Within<\/i>, as widower and Holocaust survivor Samuel, who takes a troubled young woman under his wing, and changes her life for the better. His performance is the main reason to watch this film. People old enough to know Asner will understand when I say Tiger Within<\/i> would have fit perfectly into the ABC Afterschool Special lineup. Well-intentioned, it is not well written and, with the exception of Asner, the acting is middling.<\/p>\n

Casey, played by Margot Josefsohn, is a rebellious teenager with a struggling mother who prefers to keep her nasty boyfriend happy than care for her daughter. Casey\u2019s father has started a new family and their suburban life isn\u2019t a place for the mouthy, punk-loving, artistic teen. Another highlight of Tiger Within<\/i> is Casey\u2019s art, which makes appearances throughout, further communicating her frustrations and other feelings.<\/p>\n

Out on her own, Casey is lucky to meet Samuel, who sees her inner light and inherent worth, even if she doesn\u2019t. He manages to see beyond the swastika someone spray-painted on her jacket, which she didn\u2019t bother to wash off, and her antisemitic opinions, including that Jews made up the Holocaust, which were taught to her by her mom and others. He gives her the unconditional love, snippets of wisdom and space to \u201ctame the tiger within\u201d and make her place in the world.<\/p>\n

The movie has a timely and important message. And a younger audience might be just the one to receive it in the manner it was intended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest tragedies is the misuse of love, the most powerful force there is,\u201d writes director Rafal Zielinski on the movie\u2019s website (tigerwithin.info). \u201cLoving oneself, family, group, race, country (narcissism) and being incapable of loving the other equally, as oneself, is the misuse of love, it breeds hate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the message, I feel, in this film \u2013 Samuel overcomes hate for this girl and shows her unconditional love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the greatest gift anyone can receive on this earth, and he keeps his promise, he once made to his wife \u2013 \u2018to forgive all before he dies.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to Tiger Within<\/i> and other festival films, visit vjff.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ed Asner gives a remarkable performance in Tiger Within, which is part of the online Vancouver Jewish Film Festival, April 15-19. (tigerwithin.info\/press-photos) I had the privilege of interviewing Ed Asner several years ago. It was an experience I (and my mother, who also got to speak with him) won\u2019t forget. So, it was with some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[787],"tags":[8057,23103,2280,2281],"class_list":["post-43988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-film","tag-ed-asner","tag-tiger-within","tag-vancouver-jewish-film-festival","tag-vjff"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}