Tickling Leo

I recently had the privilege to review a soon-to-be-released film. Called Tickling Leo, it was described as a film set around the days of Yom Kippur – a contemporary drama that follows three generations of one Jewish family whose secrets threaten to wipe away its future.

Who could resist a plot like that?

One of the qualities about the Jewish culture that captivated me was the bond to family and the value of heritage –  much more than I experienced in my own upbringing. While I loved my grandparents, I never felt terribly close to them, nor did I have a sense of being part of  ”a people.” The same cannot be said of Jewish people. I felt it immediately when I met my in-laws, and I experienced it among friends. They all had a sense of belonging well beyond their immediate families.

But what the two cultures share, and dare I say what Western Civilization fosters, is a lack of connection to our personal histories. Until recently, I knew very little about my ancestors. When I discovered that farmers have been in my lineage for generations, it made sense that I am drawn to horseback riding and working in the land. When I uncovered a family branch of fashionable Parisians, I realized I carried that gene, as expressed by my own career in Manhattan on Seventh Avenue. In a graduate school class I took on ancestry, it was explained that just as it is easy to believe that we “have grandpa’s nose,” we can find our own traits in our ancestors. Knowing our history helps us to know ourselves.

Tickling Leo is a story of what can happen when one loses, or is never given, their family story. Zak spontaneously takes his girlfriend to the Catskills to visit his estranged father, Warren, a man who suffers from dementia. He also suffers from the wounds of the Holocaust, and holds a tragic family secret. That secret had made him a bitter and angry father – traits we see showing up in Zak. It also created an estranged relationship between Warren and his father. As a result,  Zak never knew his own grandfather. He had become a man in pain, a person without a sense of who he was and where he came from.

Tickling Leo is a soft film that speaks to the uniqueness of the Jewish spirit. While the idea of familial pain is universal, the pain from the horrors of the Holocaust are distinct. And, in a culture where family is integral, the loss of family is devastating.

I won’t tell you how the story ends. I will tell you that Tickling Leo catches hold of you about a third of the way into the film, and will likely stick with you for days.  I know it still hasn’t left me. It is being released on Friday, September 4th. I hope you enjoy it.

Tags: movie

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