Review: Joan Micklin Silver's 'Hester Street' Remarkable and Potent

Movies about immigrant life in America are a dime a dozen in Hollywood and, recently, indie films. "Brooklyn" stands out as one of the better recent films. On an epic level, Jan Troell gave us the masterwork films "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" in the early '70s and, of course, there's Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part II."

One small film, though, stands tall as a remarkable and potent depiction of the difficulties in coming to a new land and being forced to assimilate, Joan Micklin Silver's "Hester Street."

"Hester Street" was based on the novella "Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto," by Abraham Cahan, but writer-director Silver shifted focus from the man to the woman, which instantly makes this a notable feminist work.

It's 1896 on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and Yankel (Steven Keats), who emigrated from Russia, is now Jake, a proud American. We aren't told how long he's been in NYC, but it's long enough to know he never wants to go back to Eastern Europe. Jake is romancing the elegant Mamie (Dorrie Kavanaugh), but Jake's wife, Gitl (Carol Kane) and young son abruptly arrive, upending Jake's plans. A flustered Jake tries to force Gitl into letting go of the old ways in a bullying manner, but Gitl is surprisingly resilient.

Kane is so real here. Her Gitl is forced to navigate a new world, where assimilation is all around her, but she does not want to abandon her old customs. Her husband is simply abusive, but that stems from his desire to be with Mamie more than anything else. In addition, she is only exposed to Jews in NYC and, funnily, wonders where all the Gentiles are.

Upon its release in 1975, "Hester Street" was very well received and the decision of Silver's producer-husband, Raphael D. Silver, to self-distribute turned out to be keen as was their hiring a publicist because Kane's extraordinary performance was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

Silver's fight to get the film made on her terms (shot in black and white, pretty much a character study, part comedy, part drama) was a triumph. It was turned down by every studio for being "too ethnic." Silver's depiction of Americanized immigrants making fun of newbie immigrants is dead on (I am the son of an immigrant, and witnessed this shaming firsthand).

Besides Kane's great work, Keats is also terrific. He went on to loads of featured TV work, but based on his performance here, should have had a better career. He died at 49 in 1994, of an apparent suicide. Kavanaugh is also wonderful, and also had a short-lived career, succumbing to cancer at 38 in 1983.

Cohen Media Group has done a fabulous job with this 4K restoration. The film looks awesome (with a few fuzzy moments) – Kenneth Van Sickle's cinematography is gorgeous. Sound-wise, I noticed slight hissing in the first reel, but nothing too distracting.

The extras abound, with two new chats with Silver, one exclusively about "Hester Street" and a second about her career (that could have delved more into specific films). There is also a "found" original title sequence, as well as some older interviews with Kane and others, and both Silvers do an audio commentary that is definitely worth a listen.

In a year that saw classics like "Nashville," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "The Day of the Locust" bow, "Hester Street" deserves placement in that cinematic pantheon.

Blu-ray Extras Include: