When they were younger, first cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) were inseparable. They would wander New York City partying all night crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and looking at everything. David would inevitably fall asleep on a bench in Chinatown, always the lightweight. Benji would continue on alone, always to the beat of his own drum.
Decades later, David has a steady job and is married with a child while Benji continues to live a Bohemian lifestyle. The two haven’t seen each other in years, but after the death of their beloved grandmother, they reunite for a voyage through the old country, Poland. They join a small historical tour group of other Jewish travellers from all walks of life for a guided tour.
David and Benji‘s planned trip will conclude in a trek to the house their grandmother settled in, after the miracles which saved her from the holocaust. Their adventure begins amicably and the two begin their pilgrimage in high spirits. But soon, David remembers why he and Benji grew apart as “mismatched” does not begin to cover it. The pair are simply two completely different people, one wishes to suppress his own misery while the other inflicts it on others. But which of the two are more appreciated by the outside world? And what does Benji‘s volatile behaviour say about David‘s own life?
A very personal film, Jesse Eisenberg writes and directs this story of exploration and self-discovery. Chosen as the opening night film of the 2024 International Jewish Film Festival, the movie is something of a Holocaust film in its own way.
A third generation American himself, Eisenberg was always fascinated by his own roots. What does the pain of his ancestors say about the life he lives today? With the characters of David and Benji, he shows us two conflicting approaches to what it means to be descended from trauma.
This is only the second feature Eisenberg has written and directed, and yet it shows his incredible maturity as a filmmaker. Not only a semi-autobiographical work but also a reflection on what it means to be Jewish but far removed from your own history and culture. All wrapped up in what seems at first like the basis for a stoner buddy comedy, quickly the film becomes much more introspective.
Benji is a vibrant, fascinating and insightful person full of life and ideas. Played wonderfully by Culkin, Benji wears his pain on his sleeve and he’s not afraid to go out on a limb or to shake things up and disturb other people’s comfort when it relates to something he cares about. But he’s also a gigantic dickhead who can light up a room one moment and freely piss on it the next, simply because that’s the way the wind blows. Perhaps it’s a bipolar disorder, but Benji makes himself hard to like, despite him still being clearly a loving person.
Compared to David who has his life in order, a steady job and is living the family life, when this tour group departs, nobody will recall any bad memories about David, but they won’t remember any good ones either. Everyone will remember Benji despite his vulgar and selfish nature and the question remains, is one approach to life preferable over the other?
As we follow the pilgrimage of David and Benji, we see the history of Poland itself; from the brutalist soviet architecture built on top of centuries of history to the horror of a concentration camp mere minutes away from a densely populated city. Shot by local born cinematographer Michał Dymek, it is more utilitarian than beautiful but shows us exactly what we need as the cold reality.
Nearly a century on, the insides of the Majdanek Nazi extermination camp are still a sombre and harrowing sight to behold. Reportedly, this is the first time a narrative feature film has been allowed to shoot there, or inside any concentration camp. With no music and no need at dramatisation of the events of the past, it still hits in a powerful way.
This is how A Real Pain is in its own way a movie about the horrors of the holocaust. It is a movie about the darkness of the past and how people many generations later are still effected by it. With a scene stealing performance by Kieran Culkin and an emotional yet subtle approach by Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain is one of the most surprisingly touching films of the year.
A Real Pain was screened as part of the opening night of the 2024 Jewish International Film Festival.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.jiff.com.au/films/a-real-pain