The Hungarian Cube: A Journey with Andre Hajdu
(directed by Gilad Inbar) is a new bio-documentary, providing an intimate look
at one of Israel's foremost composers, a winner of the Israel Prize for Music
(1997). Young Israeli musicians were
brought up on his music -- I recall my daughter playing some of his pieces
during her years as a clarinetist in the Jerusalem Youth Orchestra.
At the beginning of a concert of his music, Hajdu tells an
audience: "I hope you will not only enjoy but also suffer a little because
these things aren't simple." His
music -- quite unique and even eclectic in style, not standard in any sense -- accompanies
the entire film, and is described as having theatrical flavor.
Hajdu, now 80-years-old, talks about the difficulties of his
youth, growing up in Budapest during the terrible period of the Nazi occupation
and the difficult years under the Russians. He travels, with his wife, Ruth, to
Budapest, swims in Lake Balaton, teaches a master class in improvisation,
visits childhood friends with whom he discusses issues of identity and the
central source of inspiration that the Holocaust has played in his life. We learn of his work to collect and preserve
gypsy music and we visit Ruth 's
Catholic family in rural France.
Hajdu is a charming and eccentric character in his personal
life -- with his wife and adult sons, and in his relations with friends and
colleagues. He has become a religious
Jew and has written melodies so that Mishnah texts can be sung aloud. We meet his six diverse sons: one lives in Paris; one is a haredi educator;
one is a businessman who had serious questions about circumcising his son; one is a Gush Khatif evacuee; one shares with his father his
"ideology" that he prefers to live with his girlfriend before
marriage; and one is a Jerusalem tour guide, teaching his aging father to ride a
Segway!
The Hungarian Cube: A Journey with Andre Hajdu
(documentary, 72 minutes, 2013) is available from Ruth Diskin Films.
Additional bio-documentaries about personalities in the
field of Israeli music, recently reviewed on this blog:
- · Rita Jahan Foruz directed by Ayal Goldberg
- · Wind, Darkness, Water (about Nomi Shemer) directed by Yahaly Gat
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