The Jerusalem Film Festival presents: Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich!

July 9, 2008 - 4:01 PM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Pop Culture

Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich! Meta-meta-humor and celebrity commentary are seemingly concepts native to the Jewish motion picture entertainment headspace – from Woody Allen’s classic mockumentary Zelig, which meditated on the individual’s ability to adapt to whatever high-profile circumstances may arise, all the way to the eponymous chutzpanit’s hyper-fictionalized self in The Sarah Silverman Program.

In other words, having always been steeped in social commentary and self-obsessed mockery, Jewish entertainment seems to now be hopelessly entangled with the exercise of wondering who the real Self is and what the nature of the relationship between that Self and its collective audience may boil down to.

Celebrating its 25th incarnation when the Pixar Wall-E hits the extra-big screen at Sultan’s Pool on July 10th, The Jerusalem Film Festival has, over the years, succeeded in securing some not unimpressive guests. Among the film scene luminaries who have graced Hebron Road’s Cinematheque and its festival’s satellite venues are David Mamet, Roger Corman, Ang Lee, Jane Fonda, Warren Beaty, Bob Hoskins, Roberto Benigni, Robert De Niro, Kirk Douglas and Roman Polanski.

At the 2006 Jerusalem Film Festival, Ohio-bred Jewish actress Debra Winger made an appearance, returning to the land (where she reportedly had spent a couple years serving in the military as a young lady) during a time in her life when she had decided to take a few steps back from the Hollywood entertainment machinery – a hiatus that inspired Rosanna Arquette four years prior to release Searching for Debra Winger, a montage of interviews on the subject of women actresses and how they balance their careers with their personal lives. Meta-commentary included opinions care of Frances McDormand, Whoopi Goldberg, Daryl Hannah, Laura Dern, Teri Garr, Salma Hayek, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith and Meg Ryan.

Hollywood studio executive Mike Medavoy (Amadeus, Zodiac) has announced his participation in the 2008 Jerusalem Film Festival, as has British director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, Wonderland). But the headlining guest will be John Malkovich, one of the great thespian talents of our generation, and no stranger to meta-celebrity commentary himself. Malkovich has agreed to submit himself to a question-and-answer session on July 17, following a screening of Being John Malkovich, the groundbreaking 1999 Charlie Kaufman-Spike Jonze movie that wondered what it might mean for simple down-and-out plebeians to have the ability to become puppeteers of a famous persona.

Indeed, Being John Malkovich is the ultimate meta-celebrity meditation, making its star’s appearance at The Jerusalem Film Festival almost too poetic to be true. The festival’s publicity materials urge us to “leave these historical thoughts aside; this is, after all, a delightful comedy – unusual and cynical, with a slight melancholic touch,” but with a trend like this, how can we resist? When Malkovich looks out into the Cinematheque auditorium, will he see a crowd of shrewd hipsters raising their hands? Or will he see a bunch of Jews holding Malkovich masks to their heads in a scene reminiscent of the movie’s poster?

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