Desire to Know
(Zhelanie znat')
Russia, 2000, video, color, 75 min.
Russian with English subtitles.
Set outside Moscow, in and around a Jewish religious school, or yeshiva, that was once a Communist Party vacation home, this documentary gracefully explores how three young secular Russians found their way to Orthodox Judaism. Danya has followed in the footsteps of his parents, who are famous theater people. Bored by success, he discovers the challenge he craves in Torah studies. Sasha, an officer in the Soviet air force, begins his religious journey by rejecting the Marxist-Leninist world view, which has no place for a divine creator. Igor is a hippie, drawn to Eastern philosophy, New Age religion, and Jack Kerouac. Of the three, his is the most postmodern vision of Judaism. The film offers a captivating glimpse of the dynamics of Jewish identity in post-Soviet society and of the future of Jewish life in post-Communist Eastern Europe.