Get the latest gossip
‘Sabbath Queen’ Review: A Provocative If Cluttered Face-Off Between Different Notions of Judaism
Sandi DuBowski spent 21 years shooting 'Sabbath Queen,' a portrait of Amichai Lau-Lavie, progressive gay activist turned conservative rabbi — sort of.
But the role of embedded provocateur and status quo challenger that Lau-Levie has now assumed — to some strong pushback, including published cries that it represents an “existential threat” to Jews — only becomes fully clear well into “Sabbath Queen.” Jumping back and forth in time, the documentary spends its first hour cramming in an array of subtopics that are all interesting, but feel rather arbitrarily structured by four credited editors. They include the story of our protagonist’s Polish grandfather, who perished in the Holocaust; his father’s starry political career (he’s seen photographed with both Kissinger and Liz Taylor); and latter-day footage of Orthodox protestors hurling abuse at women in Israel who seek access to traditionally male institutions. Amichai’s own backstory encompasses non-consensual outing in the Israeli press, which led to his 1997 emigration; subsequent self-discovery via the NYC gay club scene and the Radical Faeries’ queer spirituality; the career of drag persona Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross; his co-parenting with a lesbian couple; a long-term lover who passed away from HIV complications; involvement in the Occupy Wall Street and anti-occupation movements, and more.
Or read this on Variety