Parents' Guide to Hester Street

The debut feature film from writer/director Joan Micklin Silver, this celebrated drama about the Jewish immigrant experience was Oscar nominated on its 1975 release. Despite being introduced to Keats' Jake/Yankel early on, it's award-nominee Kane's Gitl who gives Hester Street an edge. Micklin Silver's adaptation of Abraham Cahan's novella (named after the central male character, Yekl) pulls focus toward the female role, adding a feminist perspective that only gets stronger as the movie goes on. Gitl begins in a position of powerlessness but gradually understands what's important to her and what she is and isn't willing to do in this transition from the "old" to the "new" world. Keats plays Jake with a humorous touch, leaning into moments of ridiculousness and desperation, garnering sympathy for a man who, however much he's found a way to fit into his surroundings, still appears somewhat lost in terms of who he is to himself. Some scenes feel like everything's being thrown into the mix at once—particularly on the busy city streets—yet the characters themselves remain just beyond reach, and not quite fully formed. It is, however, an affecting, entertaining story told through the eyes of Jewish Russian immigrants that shows the experience of assimilation can't be glossed over with a one-size-fits-all narrative.