Between the Temples

Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples is one of those unique films that feels like it’s made in the 1970s. It is very much a modern take on Harold and Maude, as it focuses on taboo romance with a significant age gap, though the romance in Between the Temples is a 30-year-old age gap where Hal Ashby’s beloved classic is about 50. Like Harold and Maude, it has moments of deadpan hilarity and moments of melancholy, but it also offers moments of humanity that echo the work of Alexander Payne with the 16mm film aesthetics of earlier Noah Baumbach (Think the Squid and the Whale and Margot at the Wedding), where the chaotic visuals have tight-closeups and natural lighting. There is also a dizzying, or rather chaotic, effect with the human drama and dark humor that resembles the work of the late Robert Altman, with some overlapping dialogue. Overall, you can see the influences, and it never feels derivative.

The narrative begins with a middle-aged Ben (Jason Swartzman) sitting alone with his two mothers, Judith (Dolly de Leon) and Meira (Caroline Aaron), as they try to get Ben acquainted with their single plastic surgeon, who ends up touching Ben’s face and can easily determine that he cries often. Ben, after all, is a recent widow who lost his author wife Ruth after she slipped on a patch of black ice. Ben finds himself not only grieving, but he seems detached from his faith as a cantor at his synagogue as well. After getting sucker punched at a bar fight, he encounters Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane), a widowed grace school music teacher who once had Ben as one of his students. She ends up visiting him at one of his classes at the temple, and she requests to have a bat mitzvah, which she never had the opportunity to get when she was a teenager because her parents were atheist Communists. At first, Ben is reluctant and doesn’t take Carla’s request seriously, but over time, he warms up to his old-grade schoolteacher, and the ceremony gets approved by Bruce (Robert Smigel), the synagogue’s rabi.

Courtesy Sony  Pictures Classic

During a very affecting scene when Carla feels like she’s being listened to, she asks Ben to recount the personal story she shared on why she couldn’t have a bat mitzvah at age 13, and at first, he shows hesitance only to recite her story verbatim. They end up spending a lot of quality time together, and Carla’s newfound spiritual thirst for Judaism is scrutinized by her atheist son Nat (Matthew Shear) during a very awkward dinner with his two daughters and wife that features a hilarious visual gag of those oversized restaurant menus.

Between the Temples is a fordable character study, and it holds a lot of complexities. Jason Swartzman has always had an aptness for playing offbeat characters with shades of vulnerability, and he delivers once again with excellence. While Ben is a character with many flaws, there is nuance to his character. Especially in how his grief comes through with a date he has with Bruce’s aspiring actress daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), who ends up asking to borrow the published book of his late wife. We have seen many films about grief before, but this movie is unique and honest in how we all grieve in different ways. In one great scene, Gabby opens up about how aroused she got reading her book, which leads to Benny sharing voice recordings Ruth left him, which makes Gabby even more lascivious. The romance blossoms, and you are ecstatic to observe Ben finding some romance, but the attraction to Gabby is more sexual and psychical, as his connection with Carla is more fulfilling. While more planktonic, it brings him the happiness and joy that haven’t been quite fulfilled since Ruth’s death.

Courtesy Sony Pictures Classic

What works best about the film is the relationship between Ben and Carla. Ben is in melancholic anguish, but his spirits are elevated in the company of Carla, who is also a widow. There is a special bond that goes beyond romance. They open up and share very personal stories together; they prepare for Carla’s and bat mitzvah chants; and Ben’s faith feels more affirmed. They benefit from each other’s company, which many people in their circle cannot understand. Perhaps it’s more of a screwball comedy, but it’s a study on nervous breakdowns and the irrationality of how we grieve, and it sharply gives Between the Temples an idiosyncratic charm.