Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness not only introduces Sholem Aleichem to a new generation but reminds audiences why he is one of the greatest Jewish writers of all time.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 13, 2025

The result is more than an examination of the contradictory life of the celebrated humorist and storyteller, it's a compelling cinematic look at the complex world of Eastern European Jews.

| Sep 23, 2020

An important doc for anyone who cares about literature.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 23, 2020

Dorman's well-researched documentary is aided by numerous archival photographs, both of 19th-century Jewish life and of Sholem Aleichem himself.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 23, 2020

Dorman's documentary reveals how one man's prolific writings could have such a profound effect on both assessing and advancing a language and a culture.

| Original Score: A | Sep 23, 2020

Dorman strikes the perfect balance between the work and the man.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jul 11, 2013

Not often does a film double as a literary critic, but this is the Northrop Frye of docs. Essentially, it revises and sharpens the blunted reputation of a great writer.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 24, 2012

Audiences interested in Jewish literature will find Laughing in the Darkness compelling for its deep analysis of Aleichem's works, featuring a selection of experts and the writer's granddaughter, Bel Kaufman.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 23, 2012

In the end, you're certainly inspired to read Aleichem, but not necessarily to watch Dorman's film again.

| Original Score: B- | Dec 15, 2011

[An] absorbing PBS-style documentary.

| Dec 7, 2011

Throughout the film, Dorman uses ethnographic and silent-cinema footage, along with ubiquitous klezmer music, to paint a picture of the era.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 28, 2011

.... a thoughtful, if also conventional, overview of Aleichem's life and work, mixing straight history and biography with quotations from his writings...

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 27, 2011

It's a history lesson that also shows art informing the events, even changing them.

| Original Score: B | Oct 19, 2011

... a swift, fascinating 93 minutes ...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 13, 2011

One needn't be a student of the history or literature of the period to appreciate this excellent portrait of a fascinating and important figure.

| Original Score: B | Oct 13, 2011

A rich, winning documentary...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 13, 2011

The film adroitly sets the writer's works, his triumphs and tribulations, against the backdrop of a tumultuous period for European Jewry.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 29, 2011

Dorman makes the case that Aleichem is the source from whence flows modern Jewish humor.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 22, 2011

It's good, but I'd wait for 온라인카지노추천.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 9, 2011

Dorman's portrait is engrossing, but his Ken Burns style doesn't match his subject's vitality.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 31, 2011