'The Chosen' Film Review, include the historical context, religious context, character and theme analysis of the film.

Essay by bambieHigh School, 10th grade June 2006

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"The Chosen", set in the 1940s New York is a story about Reuven Malter and Danny Saunder's struggle for friendship despite their differing cultures. The Jewish adolescents meet as rivals. Danny Saunders 'accidentally' injures Reuven Malter, which brings them together and they become close friends. Danny's father, an immigrant rabbi, pursues the tradition of raising Danny in silence. Danny yearns for the diverse knowledge signified by Reuven's surroundings; whereas Reuven is captivated by Danny's close synagogue community and family. Reuven and his father are working to create a State of Israel but Danny's people strongly oppose it. This leaves question of whether their friendship will survive the major differences between Reuven's Modern Orthodox Judaism and Danny's traditional Orthodoxy. There are many characters involved in The Chosen, as well as significant themes, historical contexts and religious contexts. Throughout this review we will be outlining these main elements of the "The Chosen".

The major characters in "The Chosen" are diverse in both personality and life. Reuven Malter an orthodox, secular Jew has a close friendship with his father, is a loyal friend, popular at school, and a diligent student. He plans to become a rabbi, despite his mathematical skills. After being hit in the eye with a baseball by Danny Saunders, they grow to become close friends. Danny Saunders is the son of a rabbi. He holds a talented mind but is held back by a silence between his father and soul. Danny is to inherit his father's position of a rabbi, but wishes to become a psychologist. He cares for Reuven as his closest friend and later enters Columbia University. Danny's father, Rabbi Isaac Saunders, is the leader of a Hasidic community in Brooklyn. He is a traditional, religious and powerful man and chooses...