12/42
David Kaplan: Yes
The mismatched cousins reunite for a tour of Poland to commemorate their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. When Benji and David visit their grandmother’s house in Poland, the location is where Jesse Eisenberg’s Ancestors 39 of real life settled in the diaspora. Benji Kaplan: We keep moving, we keep light, we keep agile. Benji Kaplan: The conductor comes, gets the tickets, we tell him we’re going to the bathroom. David Kaplan: Bathroom. Benji Kaplan: He reaches the back of the train and starts walking to the front to look for strays.David Kaplan: Excuse me, are we the strays? Benji Kaplan: Yes.
This is our country
When they get to the front, the train will be in the station and we’re home free. David Kaplan: That’s so stupid. Tickets probably cost about twelve dollars. Benji Kaplan: It’s the principle of the thing. We shouldn’t pay for train tickets in Poland. David Kaplan: No, it’s not, it was our country. They kicked us out because they thought we were cheap…
Featured on CBS News Sunday Morning: Episode #4644 (2024)
12 Studies, Op. 25, no. 3 in F major, written by Frederic Chopin, performed by Tzvi Erez. “We keep moving, keep light, keep agile.” Benji Kaplan (Kieran Culkin) “A Real Pain” is a comedy, yes, handcrafted by writer/director Jesse Eisenberg, but it’s also a serious drama about the differences between two Jewish cousins who travel to Poland to honor their recently deceased grandmother, a Holocaust survivor. This buddy film is a study of two distinct characters and their relationship to each other and their Jewish history. David (Eisenberg) is John Milton’s Il Penseroso and Benji is his L’Allegro, two opposites, the former characterized by melancholy and the latter cheerfulness. David is the grounded, nerdy, contemplative and Benji (Kieran Culkin) the misunderstood buffoon whose joys we have yet to ponder.
Writer/director Eisenberg never lets a character deserve our criticism
His advice (above) to David to remain calm while avoiding paying for the train ticket connects David’s thoughtfulness with Benji’s madness. Benji is less the bipolar weirdo and more a funny and intelligent boy. The man is too smart to talk nonsense and too immature to reduce it. The sympathetic soul of the film lies in his character, who connects with the other Holocaust tourists in an inspired way and makes them remember him. When I visit a concentration camp, however, barely a word is spoken: as if the story of the genocide were too heavy to be put into words. Only Benji’s words, with which he advises the non-Jewish leader James (Will Sharpe) to find the true charm in the statistics he provides, make the difference. Although Benji may be ordinary, he resembles the likable Rwandan Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), a convert to Judaism, and middle-aged Marcia (Jennifer Gray), a melancholic waiting to be released from her grief over her divorce.
This lighthearted comedy-drama should be a tough contender for the Oscars
Despite Benji’s recent heavy, dark moment, David worries about his charismatic and rootless cousin. The director gently shows the complexity of the human personality and the differences that family members have regardless of the circumstances. Even more than a balanced portrayal of two very different relatives, A Real Pain shows the emotional benefits of L’Allegro and its grounded reality. Il Penseroso. After all, they are blood relatives, almost brothers, very different but caught up in the story of the Holocaust and their grandmother, just like the rest of us trying to understand the horror and joy of life. It’s a buddy movie, but it’s all about the words and not the action, like Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid. From Alien: Romulus to Road House, take a look back at some of our favorite posters from 2024.
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