BIGGER THAN LIFE: A Hundred Years of Hollywood—A Jewish Experience / 23.10.2011

19.10.2011 - 15.04.2012 - Palais Eskeles

BIGGER THAN LIFE is an exhibition about one of the most important cultural developments of the twen­tieth century. It takes visitors behind the scenes and clichés of the myth machine: from eastern Europe to the West Coast, from the Hollywood founders’ synagogues to their country club, from silent movies to talking pictures and New Hollywood, from covert Jewish identity to the Jewish “coming out” of Woody Allen or Barbra Streisand.

It features excerpts from major films, huge hitherto unseen American film posters and interestingoriginal artifacts from Europe, New York, and Los Angeles—from a silver cigar box belonging to the chain-smoking founder of Paramount Adolph Zukor and a chair from Rick’s Café in Casablanca to costume and set designs for Gone With The Wind.
A Harley Davidson like the one ridden by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider symbolizes New Hollywood, while the baseball bat belonging to “Bear Jew”, a Jewish weapon from Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, illustrates the constant change that the Jewish identity has undergone in Hollywood’s films.

Jewish Museum Vienna
Dorotheergasse 11
1010 Vienna

For more info check out: www.jmw.at

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