Hester Street (1975), or: Carol Kane is my Queen

The other day I watched Hester Street (1975) and I can conclude that I love Carol Kane. I was a little lost for the first part of the movie until she showed up and suddenly lent every scene a brilliant sense of tension, gentle but taught. I rewatched the first section of the movie immediately afterwards and with the context of what's to come, it has a great, almost-but-not-quite-comical lightness, and a sort of odd but great scene-setting feel.

But Carol Kane is wonderful from the moment she arrives as Gitl, a Jewish immigrant in New York among a crowd of immigrants, thrilled to suddenly recognise her husband with a kind of schoolgirl-ish excitement. Everything is new to her, including the particular ways her husband's callous personality has moulded to his assimilated, modern life, and Carol Kane plays this with such a touching innocence, but always like there is some kind of fire bug just underneath her tear ducts.

Also, Bernstein is wonderful.

This scene... mwah! This scene towards the end of the movie is so sweet, and it feels so understated. I love Bernstein's stacks of string-tied books, the tentative-yet-purposeful way they speak, and the handshake. People talk about the notorious hand scene in the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice a lot, and it is very good, but this is my hand scene of choice (mmm, just like the hand touch in The Last Jedi, am I right? note to self: okay, hand touch scenes are a whole thing, and I respect it). As much as I enjoy the Pride and Prejudice hand scene for its expression of sheer tantalisation, the handshake here is so great because it not only expresses affection but also Gitl's growth, emancipation, and ability to make not only an agreement with a man who values tradition as she does, but one where what she values and wants is paramount.

And, I don't know, it's just really cute. The little room, Bernstein's diligent tying up of his books, the tentative and indirect, but very sure way they speak, the reverence and respect they show each other, and their contented expressions. It's perfect.

The divorce scene also slaps hard. I'm not going to say anything about it. Just look at her face. This movie is good.

Also, shout out to this guy who is in the movie for about a minute near the beginning, doing a really good "befuddled immigrant" performance:

I loved this movie so much.