The Mortara Affair

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Modern_History/1700-1914/Modern_Anti-Semitism/Damascus_Blood_Libel.shtml


The Damascus Blood Libel & the Mortara Affair


When anti-Semitism struck in Damascus and Italy the Jewish community was galvanized and unified.

By Norman H. Finkelstein Email this page Print this page

Reprinted with permission from The JPS Guide to American Jewish History (Jewish Publication Society).



The early 19th-century Jews of the United States were less than cohesive in presenting a uniform national image. Divided by geographic, linguistic, and cultural origins, their lives revolved around family and local community. It took events thousands of miles away to bring the nascent national Jewish community to life.



The Damascus Blood Libel

The mysterious disappearance of a Catholic monk in Syria in 1840 reawakened the medieval anti-Jewish blood libel. A number of Jews were arrested and tortured. People around the world were shocked. In America, Jewish communities organized public meetings and sent petitions of protest to President Van Buren, who issued an official denunciation of the affair. This marked the first time that the Jews of the United States interested themselves and enlisted the interest of the government in the cause of suffering Jews in another part of the world.



When an American Jewish merchant was expelled from Switzerland in 1857, Isaac Leeser and Isaac M. Wise joined forces. Using their respective newspapers, they organized Jewish delegations from around the country to go to Washington and lobby government officials. American Jews discovered that their voices did matter and that a united front gained them access to the national centers of political power.







Edgardo Mortara as an adult and Augustine Order priest (right) and his mother

The Mortara Affair

The next year, another anti-Jewish act, this time in Italy, galvanized the world Jewish community. A young child, Edgar Mortara, secretly baptized by his devout Catholic nurse as an infant, was kidnapped by Vatican agents. His involuntary baptism was enough to make the little boy a Catholic in the eyes of the Church. Vatican officials removed the boy from his home to be raised as a Catholic.



The feelings of Edgar's Jewish parents can scarcely be imagined. Jews and non-Jews everywhere were outraged, but pleas from around the world fell on deaf ears in the Vatican. Edgar was raised as a Catholic and grew up to become a priest.

A positive effect of the Mortara Affair was that it institutionalized American Jewish political action for the first time by leading to the creation of the Board of Delegates of American Israelites in 1859, for securing and maintaining civil and religious rights at home and abroad.




The board, an early attempt to organize the disparate American Jewish community, did not have universal support from all leaders of the time. Rabbis Wise and Einhorn were opposed to its establishment, as were the venerable congregations of Shearith Israel and Emanu-El in New York and Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. They objected to the creation of a not religiously affiliated organization to represent the entire Jewish community.



Although the board merged in 1878 with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, at the time of its creation it was the first centralized organization to speak for American Jews. Together with such fraternal organizations as B'nai B'rith, it marked the emergence of a secular leadership in the Jewish community, which had formerly been dominated by the synagogue.



Soon other organizations, social and philanthropic, would arise to represent the diverse needs of a growing Jewish population. Like their Christian neighbors, most Jews continued to identify with their religion. But with traditional dietary and dress customs falling by the wayside, they adapted their lives to fit an American lifestyle

Norman H. Finkelstein is a writer, editor and teacher. A former school librarian in the Brookline, Massachusetts Public Schools, he has been teaching children's literature and history courses at Hebrew College for over twenty-five years. He is the series editor for the JPS Guides series published by the Jewish Publication Society.


_______________________________________________________________________________
Blood Libels

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover/History/Medieval/Blood_Libels.shtml
The accusation that blood was used to make wine or matzah for Passover

By Larry Domnitch Email this page Print this page

Reprinted with permission of the publisher from The Jewish Holidays: A Journey Through History (Jason Aronson, Inc).



When Passover night arrives, the cups of wine are filled and the prayers and songs of the holiday are joyfully chanted. In today's times, Passover has often become synonymous with vacation, as newspapers are filled with advertisements for Passover getaways to places ranging from the Canadian Rockies to Miami Beach to the French Riviera.

But that's not how Passover was celebrated for the Jews of medieval Europe. For them, wine--traditionally a symbol of gladness and holiday celebration--also signaled a time for contemplation on Passover. When Passover arrived, Jews celebrated with extreme caution and fear, unsure of the violence that could be unleashed against them.



That time of the year coincides with the Easter season, a time when Christians commemorate the Crucifixion. Too often, Jews, who were blamed for the Crucifixion and resented for their rejection of Christianity, became targets of hatred and superstitions. Often it was their use of wine on Passover that prompted those attacks.



On Passover, the bizarre blood libel accusations were often leveled against the Jews. These accusations usually led to violent attacks against Jewish communities. There were hundreds of blood libels throughout history, resulting in the deaths of thousands. The blood libel theme rarely deviated. A child--almost always a young boy--was lost. Allegations then arose that the Jews murdered him and used his blood for ritual purposes. Usually those leveling the accusations had murdered the child themselves in order to accuse the Jews. Sometimes the child was a victim of an accident or later found unharmed. The cruelest methods of torture were often used to force confessions and the fabricated charges would serve as a pretext to slander and attack Jewish communities.

By the 14th century, ritual murder charges became common at Passover time. The fact that human sacrifice and the use of even animal blood for any purpose are strictly forbidden according to Jewish law did not matter to those perpetrators and believers of lies. Reason is abandoned when hatred and ignorance rule. Repudiations of blood libels by many popes throughout the ages did little or nothing to stop them.




The First Accusation

The first ritual murder accusation in history against the Jews goes back to Egypt at about 40 BCE when a propagandist named Apion, intent upon inciting the masses against the Jews of Alexandria, slandered them with a blood libel accusation. Not until over one thousand years later did the accusation resurface. On Passover 1144, in Norwich, England, a young man named William, a tanner's apprentice, disappeared during the week of Easter, which coincided with Passover that year. Charges immediately arose that the Jews killed him as part of a ritual murder. According to the accusation, the Jews "bought a Christian child before Easter and tortured him and on Long Friday hanged him on a rod. Since no body was found, the Sheriff of Norwich ignored the charges and granted the Jews protection. But the story was not forgotten, and the missing boy, William, became a martyr amongst the town's people. A short time later, the Jews of Norwich were attacked by mobs seeking vengeance and were forced to flee.



Eleven years later, the blood libel resurfaced bringing horrific consequences to Jews attending a wedding in Lincoln, England. A Christian boy named Hugh was found in a cesspool where he apparently had fallen. After subsequent forced, tortured confessions, 19 Jews were hanged. Soon, the anti-Semites of England accused all of England's Jews of participating in ritual murder. The many accusations that followed were often accompanied by violent attacks against Jewish communities.



In 1171, the blood libel reached France. In the city of Blois, rumors spread that Jews committed murder in order to extract blood for Passover matzot. On May 26, 1171, two months after Passover--without the recovery of a corpse--the 33 members of the Blois Jewish community, which included seventeen women, were burned at the stake after they refused the chance to save themselves by accepting Christianity. French Jewry were shocked and horrified by the event. The rabbinical scholar Rabbeinu Jacob Tam proclaimed the day of the massacre, the 20th day of Sivan, a fast day to commemorate the tragedy.

Tragically, many more such horrors would follow. Ten years later, the accusation reached Spain at Saragossa. (Historically, blood libels were not as pervasive in Spain.) The merchants of hate and perpetrators of lies found a new frontier for their poison and more countries lay in their path.




In the 17th century, catastrophe struck Polish Jewry as Cossack troops attacked and massacred entire Jewish communities during the Chmielnicki Revolt. Rabbi David Halevy Siegel, who lived during that era and authored a commentary on the Shulhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law) entitled the Turei Zahav, issued a ruling intended to protect Jews from the blood libel. He ruled that the traditional red wine used at the Seders be substituted with white wine in lands of persecution in order not to arouse suspicion. "In lands where false accusations are made, we refrain from using red wine. On Passover night, white wine was consumed thereafter. In his own life, Rabbi Siegel managed to flee from the Chmielnicki massacres, but he was not spared great personal suffering when two of his sons were murdered in a pogrom in Lvov, Poland, in 1654.



Slow Decline

Over the next three hundred years, as the modern era approached, there was a slow decline in blood libels, but they did continue. In 1840, the Damascus blood libel drew protests from Jews worldwide and signified the entry of blood libels into the Middle East. The infamous Kishinev pogrom of 1903 began on the last day of Passover as the result of a blood libel.



Although blood libels became less frequent over time, their rhetoric and the power of their accusations helped to set the stage for new conspiracy theories. With the approach of the era of modernization and the Industrial Revolution, accusations arose against the Jews of conspiracy for world domination. Canards of Jewish control and aspirations for global domination became the new theme for the hate propagandists.



As Jews celebrated Passover in bygone eras, they were aware of the risks involved. At the Passover seder, they drank the four cups of wine that symbolized freedom, but not in the traditional color. When they gazed at the white wine that adorned their holiday tables, they were reminded of their own sufferings and of their precarious existence. They lived in hostile environments and they suffered, yet they could celebrate the freedom experienced by their ancestors as they exited Egypt and they could nonetheless sit and recline in the manner of nobility and drink white wine celebrating their legacy as Jews. Today, we who drink red wine at our seders can think about our ancestors of Europe and their trials and triumphs.

Jew vs. Gentile in the Eyes of the Torah, Part I

http://sn111w.snt111.mail.live.com/default.aspx#!/mail/InboxLight.aspx?n=1283502963!n=1376256801&fid=1&mid=db7ec900-9adb-11e1-a50f-00215ad801ce&fv=1

Jew vs. Gentile in the Eyes of the Torah, Part I






Chapter 1, Mishna 18(a)



"Rabbi Shimon ben (son of) Gamliel said: On three things does the world endure: justice, truth and peace, as the verse states, 'Truth and [judgments of] peace judge in your gates'" (Zechariah 8:16).



This mishna is similar to an earlier mishna in this chapter. Mishna 2 (www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter1-2.html) stated as follows: "The world is based upon three things: on Torah, on service [of G-d], and on acts of kindness." Here we are presented with a perfectly respectable but entirely different list. Further, the earlier mishna enumerated three things which the world is "based upon" ("omaid" ("stands on") in Hebrew), whereas here the mishna lists that which the world "endures" upon ("kayam" = "lasts" or "is sustained"). What is the difference?



The difference is evidently based on the discrepancy in language between the two mishnas. Above the focus was on what the world is based upon; i.e., upon what basis or for what reason was the world created. And the mishna proceeded to list the three pillars which form the purpose of creation. They are: (a) that man serve G-d, (b) that we act towards one another with kindness and brotherhood, building perfect and Divine societies, and (c) that we study Torah and become spiritual people capable of forming a relationship with G-d. This is of course only the most hopeless of summaries -- of our discussion there which in itself attempted to explain far too much in far too little space. Nevertheless, for today's purposes, we note what Mishna 2 *was* about -- and what ours is *not* about: G-d's purpose in creating the world.



Here R. Shimon focuses on how the world can "endure" -- what is required in order that the world continue to operate smoothly and not disintegrate into anarchy. And this refers to the much more mundane. Justice, truth and peace, although seemingly lofty goals on their own -- and ones which man usually falls far short of -- do not constitute the purpose of creation. They imply that societies function smoothly: that both individuals and nations interact peacefully and honestly, and that governments uphold justice, both respecting and protecting the rights of their citizens. These are not the true purposes of creation. G-d did not create the world only in order that wars *not* be fought or that individual liberties *not* be suppressed -- nor did He create it so that people would be able to walk down the street without fear of getting mugged. But these are the needed prerequisites so that true religion and devotion to G-d can take hold. Once truth, peace and justice prevail, man, rather than struggling for his basic survival, will be able to turn his attention to religion and spiritual growth.

THE NOAHIDE LAWS UNIVERSAL ON JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE
 
It's significant to note that the obligation to establish healthy and functioning societies is universal -- one which G-d placed upon all of mankind and not only upon Israel. There are seven universal laws -- known as the Seven Noahide Laws -- whose performance G-d obligated upon all of mankind, both Jew and Gentile. (The Talmud (Sanhedrin 57-8) derives these laws from verses in the stories of Genesis and Noah, before the advent of Abraham and Israel.) These laws are (six negatives and one positive): (1) idolatry, (2) cursing G-d, (3) murder, (4) adultery / incest, (5) robbery, (6) eating a limb torn from a live animal, and (7) organizing judicial systems.


As we will see G-d willing next week, the purpose of these laws is not so that man become overly spiritual or ascetic. G-d does not ask all of mankind to refrain from forbidden foods, to rest on the Sabbath, or to restrict his behavior in any really infringing way. But G-d does ask man to create societies which function smoothly and which provide man with at least the most basic respect for moral values. No society can survive while condoning murder and robbery -- with no degree of respect for human life and property. Likewise, adultery -- the destruction of the family unit -- destroys the most basic building block of human society. Finally, functional justice systems are required to uphold all the laws and make them binding. (Number 6 -- eating limb torn from a live animal -- is a related but separate discussion, which we will touch on G-d willing in 4:1 (www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter4-1a.h tml).)




Most important, however, is the belief in G-d. This is the most crucial basis for any law to be meaningful. If we refrain from murder only because *we* think it's the wrong thing to do, laws become worthless -- and empty excuses for true moral conviction. Such laws do not create a sense of respect for truth and absolute values -- only for human expediency. I can't kill you because tomorrow your brother will come and kill me. But if we all agree that blacks or Jews can be killed -- or that an unborn child isn't really living anyway, etc. etc. ad nauseam -- nothing is sacred. Without belief in G-d and the adherence to an absolute, G-d-given code of values, no law, no matter how reasonable and expedient, will be sacrosanct and above human corruption.
 
We are taught further that if a Gentile observes the Seven Laws -- and he does so because G-d commanded him, not because they simply conform to his own perception of morality -- he is promised a share in the World to Come (Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Hil' Melachim 8:11). Judaism distinguishes itself from all other religions (to my knowledge) in that it does not claim that all non-believers are condemned to eternal damnation if they don't do things our way. Israel was given a special mission in this world -- to serve as an example of spirituality for all mankind to see. But the rest of the world has hardly been "forgotten" by G-d. G-d still places commandments on all mankind, accepts their prayers, and rewards and punishes them according to their deeds. G-d is there and patiently awaiting all who seek Him, both Jew and Gentile.




Thus far we have learned the three pillars upon which the world endures. And we have learned that G-d asks all mankind -- not only Israel -- to uphold these pillars. And this provides us with an interesting insight into G-d's design for mankind. G-d does not ask all mankind to become ascetics or religious fanatics. Within a certain framework, they can live lives of their own choosing. But He does ask that Gentiles create basically moral societies.



And within these societies Israel will be able to flourish.

G-d has entrusted the world not to Israel but to all mankind. And He asks man, both Jew and Gentile, to make it a place sufficiently worthy that religion and spirituality may take hold. G-d does not force intense religious practice or doctrine upon all of mankind, but He does ask that man fashion a world which is basically receptive to -- and can aspire to -- something greater. It is almost as if G-d says to man as follows: "Create civilizations which might be secular (so long as not idolatrous), but which uphold certain basic moral principles. Promote justice, brotherhood, and a basic appreciation for humanity and ethical behavior. And within, religion will be able to take hold and flourish. Israel will be able to serve Me freely -- and the world may just be receptive to its message."

PURPOSE OF G-DLY CONTRACTIONS TO OUR WORLD

Today's Tanya Lesson


Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 49

Listen Online
MP3 Download



The Alter Rebbe explained in the previous chapter that since the light and life drawn down from G‑d is infinite — Ein Sof, as its name indicates — therefore in order for this finite world to be created, the Divine light had to undergo a multitude of contractions (tzimtzumim). This was the only way that finite creation could proceed from the infinite light of Ein Sof; were it to have been drawn down in an orderly progression, finitude would have never resulted.



As will be explained later in this chapter, all these contractions were a result of G‑d’s love of the Jewish people and His desire that they have the opportunity to fulfill Torah and the mitzvot.



The Alter Rebbe will now describe these contractions in a general manner, and will conclude that just as G‑d “overcame all obstacles” because of His love for the Jews and created finite worlds and creatures, so, too, “as water mirrors the reflection of a face,” should every Jew overcome all obstacles and come to experience a love of G‑d. Moreover, just as G‑d brought forth His light into this world in a manner that transcended orderly and limited progression, so, too, should every Jew seek to serve G‑d not only in an orderly and limited fashion, but without limit, renouncing everything for the sake of his love of Him. Even limitations foisted upon him by the world’s very nature should not act as an impediment to his service of G‑d.



והנה אף כי פרטי בחינות ההסתר והעלם אור אין סוף ברוך הוא בהשתלשלות העולמות, עד שנברא עולם הזה הגשמי, עצמו מספר ומינים ממינים שונים



Even though the particular aspects of the nature of the obscuring and concealment of the [infinite] light of the blessed Ein Sof in the descent of the worlds, descending as they do ever lower until this material world was created, are too numerous to count and are of many diverse kinds,



כידוע לטועמים מעץ החיים



as is known to those who have tasted of the “Tree of Life,” the Kabbalah,



אך דרך כלל הם שלשה מיני צמצומים עצומים כלליים, לשלשה מיני עולמות כלליים, ובכל כלל יש רבוא רבבות פרטים, והם שלשה עולמות: בריאה, יצירה, עשיה, כי עולם האצילות הוא אלקות ממש



yet in general there are three levels of powerful and comprehensive “contractions” giving rise to three comprehensive Worlds, each category consisting of myriads upon myriads of particulars. These are the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah — for the World of Atzilut is G‑dliness itself.


ATZILUT
Since Atzilut is G‑dliness itself it is not considered to be created ex nihilo, but rather is called Atzilut, which means an emanation from and an extension of G‑dliness — an illumination which comes from G‑d liness itself.



וכדי לברוא עולם הבריאה, שהן נשמות ומלאכים עליונים, אשר עבודתם לה׳ בבחינת חב״ד המתלבשים בהם


BERIAH
In order to create the World of Beriah, which consists of the higher souls and angels whose service to G‑d is in the sphere of the intellectual faculties of ChaBaD which are clothed in them — i.e., G‑dliness is revealed to them in an intellectual manner, through the three intellectual faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daat,



והם משיגים ומקבלים מהם



and they i.e., the souls and angels apprehend them and receive [influence] from them — from ChaBaD which illumines them,



In order to create a world whose creations are not wholly nullified to G‑d — as is the case in Atzilut — but are only capable of knowledge and comprehension (and it will be noted that comprehension entails an awareness of one’s own being, in that comprehension presupposes an entity who is comprehending),



היה תחלה צמצום עצום כנ״ל



there necessarily preceded a powerful “contraction”, as mentioned above.



A mighty “contraction” was necessary in order to ensure that the light of G‑dliness manifest in Atzilut should be hidden, and that only a “contracted” form of light should illuminate and create creatures of the World of Beriah, which are on a level of creation ex nihilo.



וכן מבריאה ליצירה



So, too, from Beriah to Yetzirah,



In order for the World of Yetzirah — a World far lower than Beriah — to be created, there again had to be a powerful contraction.



כי אור מעט מזער המתלבש בעולם הבריאה, עדיין הוא בבחינת אין סוף לגבי עולם היצירה



for the minute portion of light (“minute”, that is, in relation to the light found in Atzilut) which clothes itself in the World of Beriah is still in a category of infinity in relation to the World of Yetzirah, so that the light of Beriah had to undergo a powerful “contraction” before it was able to descend into Yetzirah,



ואי אפשר להתלבש בו אלא על ידי צמצום והעלם, וכן מיצירה לעשיה



and it is unable to clothe itself in the latter except through contraction and obscuration. So, too, from Yetzirah to Asiyah.



There, too, the light of the World of Yetzirah had to be considerably limited to enable it to descend into the World of Asiyah.



וכמו שכתוב במקום אחר ביאור שלשה צמצומים אלו באריכות, לקרב אל שכלינו הדל



(1An elaborate explanation of these three “contractions” is given elsewhere, in order to make them more accessible to our poor intellect.)



ותכלית כל הצמצומים הוא כדי לברוא גוף האדם החומרי, ולאכפייא לסטרא אחרא, ולהיות יתרון האור מן החושך

PURPOSE OF ALL THE CONTRACTIONS

The purpose of all the “contractions” is the creation of the material human body and the subjugation by man of the sitra achra, to bring about the preeminence of light supplanting darkness — by having light replace darkness, and even more so when the darkness itself is transformed into light, at which time the preeminence of light is felt to an even greater degree. This is accomplished:



בהעלות האדם את נפשו האלקית והחיונית ולבושיהן, וכל כחות הגוף כולן, לה׳ לבדו, כנ״ל באריכות



when a person elevates his divine soul and his vivifying soul (a soul which receives its nourishment from kelipot, but through man’s service in Torah and mitzvot is elevated and incorporated into holiness, thereby elevating the souls) together with their garments of thought, speech and action, and all the powers of the body, to G‑d alone, as has been discussed earlier at length,



כי זה תכלית השתלשלות העולמות

PROGRESSIVE DESCENT OF THE WORLDS

for this is the purpose of the progressive descent of the Worlds.



The ultimate purpose of all the descents from level to level and World to World is this physical world. It is here that a Jew is able, through his divine service, to effect the subjugation of evil and the preeminence of light supplanting darkness.



The Alter Rebbe now goes on to say that just as G‑d’s love for the Jews “overcame all obstacles” that (as it were) stood in the way of creating this physical world, contracting His infinite light so that infinite beings could be created, so, too, should every Jew respond in kind by overcoming all obstacles that hinder him from serving G‑d. Furthermore, his level of service too should not be finite but infinite.



והנה כמים הפנים לפנים



And “as water mirrors the reflection of a face”:



Just as water reflects an exact replica of one’s face, so, too, with regard to the “heart of man to his fellow man,” the love of one person to another results in the other person’s loving him as well:



כמו שהקב״ה כביכול הניח וסילק לצדדין דרך משל את אורו הגדול הבלתי תכלית וגנזו והסתירו בג׳ מיני צמצומים שונים, והכל בשביל אהבת האדם התחתון, להעלותו לה׳



As G‑d has (as it were) laid down and set aside, figuratively speaking, His great infinite light, and has stored it away and concealed it by means of three different kinds of “contractions” — and all this because of His love for lowly man, in order to raise him up to G‑d,






This means to say that G‑d created a world in which man may serve Him, and by doing so man is uplifted to G‑d. But how is it possible for love to bring about “contraction”, when love signifies kindness and expansiveness, while contraction and concealment characterize severity? The Alter Rebbe answers this implied question by pointing out that we find that love, too, can bring about contraction, as in the Gemara now quoted:



כי אהבה דוחקת את הבשר

RENUNCIATION

for2 “love impels the flesh,” so that the flesh will not impede it. Thus, because of G‑d’s love for His people, He (figuratively speaking) set aside His great light and concealed it through many contractions, and so on. This being so:





2. Bava Metzia 84a.





על אחת כמה וכמה, בכפלי כפליים לאין קץ, כי ראוי לאדם גם כן להניח ולעזוב כל אשר לו מנפש ועד בשר, ולהפקיר הכל



how much more, and an infinite number of times more, is it fitting that a man also should relinquish and set aside all he possesses, both spiritually and physically, and renounce everything,



בשביל לדבקה בו יתברך בדביקה חשיקה וחפיצה, ולא יהיה שום מונע מבית ומחוץ, לא גוף ולא נפש ולא ממון ולא אשה ובנים



in order to cleave to Him, with attachment, desire and longing, without any hindrance, within or without, neither of body nor soul — hindrances from “within”, nor money, nor wife and children — hindrances from “without”. None of these things should hinder him from cleaving to G‑d. By renouncing them all he sets aside even his most important needs for the sake of his love of G‑d.



FOOTNOTES

1. Parentheses are in the original text.

2. Bava Metzia 84a.

White Mane(Crin Blanc: Le Cheval Sauvage)

White Mane From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search White Mane




Promotional poster

Directed by Albert Lamorisse

Produced by Albert Lamorisse

Written by Screenplay:

Albert Lamorisse

Commentary:

James Agee

Albert Lamorisse

Saul J. Turell

Story::

Denys Colomb de Daunant

Narrated by Frank Silvera

Les Marshak

Starring Alain Emery

Music by Maurice Leroux

Cinematography Edmond Séchan

Editing by Georges Alépée

Distributed by Films Montsouris

Janus Films

Release date(s) March 1953

Running time 47 minutes (France)

31 minutes (USA)

Country France

Language French



White Mane (French: Crin-Blanc and Crin Blanc, Cheval Sauvage) is a 1953 short film directed by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse.



The forty-seven minute short, filmed on location in the marshes of Camargue, France, won numerous awards on its release, including the Short Film Palme d'Or Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also became popular with children and was marketed for them. The story tells a fable of how a young boy tames a wild white stallion called White Mane.



Contents [hide]

1 Plot
PlotIn the marshes of Camargue, France, a herd of wild horses roam free. Their leader is a handsome white-haired stallion named White Mane (Crin Blanc in French).




A group of ranchers capture the wild stallion and place him in a corral. Yet White Mane escapes. A boy named Folco (Alain Emery), who lives with his fisherman grandfather, watches intently as White Mane escapes, and he dreams of one day handling White Mane. The ranchers once again try to capture White Mane and fail. Folco asks the men if he can have the white horse. Yes, says one of the men, "but first you have to catch him, but your fish will grow wings before you can manage that."



Later Folco comes across White Mane in the marshes, and he tries to rope him. However, White Mane gallops and drags Folco in the water for quite a while. Folco refuses to let go of the rope and almost passes out. White Mane relents and the two become friends.



White Mane returns to his herd and another horse challenges him for dominance. White Mane loses the fight and returns to join the boy.
The ranchers return and try to spook White Mane by setting fire to the area he and his herd live in. Folco jumps on White Mane (for the first time) and rides him bareback across the marshes of Camargue, over the sparse dunes to the sea. The ranchers give chase and surround them, but they refuse to be caught. With Folco on his back, White Mane rides into the sea. The film ends as the narrator states that White Mane took Folco to an island where horses and children can be friends forever.

2 Cast
CastAlain Emery as Folco, the boy


Pierre Bestieux

Denys Colomb Daunant

Alain Colomb Daunant

Charles Fouhetty

Jean-Pierre Grenie as Narrator (French language)

Charles Guillaume

Pascal Lamorisse

Pierre Moureaux-Nery

Francois Perie

Laurent Roche

Frank Silvera as Narrator (English language)

Les Marshak as Narrator (English language)
3 Background


3.1 The horse
The horseMain article: Camargue (horse)


The story is based on real horses that are found in the Camargue region in southeast France. For centuries, possibly thousands of years, these small horses have lived wild in the harsh environment of the wetlands of the Rhône delta, the Camargue marshes, developing the stamina, hardiness and agility for which they are known today. They are the traditional mount of the gardians – Camargue "cowboys."



Camargue horses galloping through water, as does Crin Blanc in the film, are a popular and romantic image of the region.


3.2 Filming locations
Filming locationsMain article: Camargue


The film was shot entirely on location in the southeast region of France;[citation needed] specifically the Petite Camargue (little Camargue), Bouches-du-Rhône, France, a marsh area located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two branches of the Rhône river delta.



4 Critical reception
Critical receptionThe film, since its first release in 1953, has generally received favorable reviews from critics. When the picture was rereleased in late 2007 by Janus Films, Terrence Rafferty in The New York Times, Terrence said the short "is among the world’s most famous and most honored films for children... But kids’ stuff [it is] not... The tone of [the] film is that of open mouthed wonder." In White Mane, Rafferty wrote, "you sense, as in few other films, the real terrors of nature... And Lamorisse, [the] movie show, really was a remarkable artist: one of the cinema’s best poets and a fearless explorer of the scary and exhilarating outbacks of the imagination."[1]




Philip Kennicott in The Washington Post liked the mise en scène, writing "there are perfectly worthy reasons to keep [the film] in circulation. Visually, [it is] masterful." However, Kennicott argues that the film takes place in a world of lies. He wrote, "A boy and his horse are hunted down by adult ranchers — while a narrator makes vague promises of a better world to come. The beautiful imagery of [the film] is deployed in support of a moral system — a blunt promise of rewards for good behavior — not much more sophisticated than that of Santa and the Easter Bunny. Ah, the time-honored tradition of adults indoctrinating kids in a world-view that will lead only to bitter disappointment, unless the kids refuse to grow up."[2]


5 Distribution
DistributionOn March 19, 1967, it was paired with the 1959 US short "The Boy Who Owned a Melephant" as an episode of the television anthology series The CBS Children's Film Festival.[3]




In late 2007, the film, along with director Albert Lamorisse's later short The Red Balloon (1956), was restored and rereleased by Janus Films. The film was remastered by Janus Films in 35mm format.[4]



A four-minute clip of the film is on the rotating list of programming on the cable television network Classic Arts Showcase.[citation needed


5.1 Video and DVD
Video and DVDA version of the film was released in the United States on June 30, 1993 by Columbia TriStar Home Video, under the label "Children's Treasures Present."[citation needed]




Homevision released the film in video, combined with Albert Lamorisse's fantasy short The Red Balloon on June 13, 2000.[citation needed]



The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc of the film in 1986, produced by Criterion, Janus Films, and Voyager Press. Included in the disc was Lamorisse's The Red Balloon. Criterion released a DVD of the film in 2008.[5]


6 Awards
AwardsWins


Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or, Best Short Film, Albert Lamorisse; 1953.

Prix Jean Vigo: Prix Jean Vigo, Short Film, Albert Lamorisse; 1953.

Nominations

British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Documentary Film, France; 1954.
7 References
References1.^ Refferty, Terrence (November 11, 2007). "Two Short Fables That Revel in Freedom". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/movies/11raff.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin. Retrieved December 1, 2007.


2.^ Hunnicott, Philip (November 23, 2007). "'Red Balloon' and 'White Mane': Childhood Colored by Adult Cynicism". The Washington Post: p. C01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201315.html.

3.^ The CBS Children's Film Festival 1967 (fan site). Archived from the original on April 24, 2012.

4.^ White Mane at Janus Films; web site includes trailer of film. Last accessed: December 3, 2007.

5.^ White Mane at Janus Films; web site includes trailer of film. Last accessed: December 3, 2007.
8 External links


External linksWhite Mane at the Internet Movie Database


White Mane at AllRovi

White Mane at Kiddie Matinee

White Mane at Janus Films; includes trailer of film
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201315.html
Movies


'Red Balloon' and 'White Mane': Childhood Colored by Adult Cynicism

Network NewsX Profile



View More Activity





TOOLBOX

Resize Print E-mail Reprints

By Philip Kennicott

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, November 23, 2007



The average, hyperactive, plugged-in modern child is not likely to sit through the 1956 French classic "The Red Balloon" without a lot of fussing and whining. This almost legendary film, aimed at children and at adults who like to think they haven't lost their connection to childhood, is devoid of the usual trappings of today's kiddie cinema: no flatulence jokes, no aping the manners and language of infantilized adults, no spittle or snot or other fetish liquids of childhood. It is a cinematic love letter to a fantasy of Paris, seen through the eyes of a little boy who befriends a red balloon with all the wide-eyed, trusting innocence that a boy can shower on a puppy.



It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and it is a mainstay of many critic's top 10 lists. It is now being rereleased, paired with the 1953 "White Mane," another film by director Albert Lamorisse. Each work clocks in at under an hour, and it's good to see them side by side, even if the earlier "White Mane" (about a boy's love for a horse) feels a bit like a clunky trial run for the more accomplished and austere narrative exercise that is "The Red Balloon."



Almost everyone who has seen one of these films ("White Mane" is decidedly the rarer of the two) remembers Lamorisse's work fondly. Both films are about young boys and the dangers and possibilities of friendship. In "White Mane," the drama plays out in an idealized world of simple fisherman with nary a whiff of anything modern in its pastoral landscapes. In "The Red Balloon," the hero is a schoolboy (Lamorisse's son, Pascal), the setting postwar Paris, untouched by the war or anything remotely un-French. Both films are considered gorgeous fables, simple stories but pregnant with sad commentary on the fragility of innocence and the tragic pragmatism of the adult world.

Critics have favored these films not just because they are beautifully shot, but because their very spareness allows for a lot of intellectual imposition and interpretation. The red balloon may be a Freudian sign of burgeoning sexuality -- a reading made plausible when a little girl with a blue balloon wanders into the film for a brief suggestion of romance. The balloon may also be a sign calling attention to the unseen hand of the filmmaker -- as if the director is saying, hey, through the miracle of film, I can make any inanimate object into a viable dramatic character. The film becomes a meta-commentary on the power of film. You can go much further with these lines of thought. You can write a graduate thesis on the subject.


This sort of interpretation is likely very annoying to people who want to remember the films as simple and pure. But watch them again, and it's clear they are anything but pure. Lamorisse's Paris is basically photographer Eug¿ne Atget's glistening and empty city peopled by characters straight out of the old "Madeline" children's books. It doesn't exist, it didn't exist in 1956, and it probably never existed, except in carefully constructed French fantasies. And Lamorisse's vision of peasant life in the South of France, in the Camargue, never existed either. These films take place in a world of lies.




Innocent lies? Not necessarily. "The Red Balloon" may be the most seamless fusion of capitalism and Christianity ever put on film. A young boy invests in a red balloon, the love of which places him on the outside of society. The balloon is hunted down and killed on a barren hilltop -- think Calvary -- by a mob of cruel boys. The ending, a bizarre emotional sucker punch, is straight out of the New Testament.



Thus is investment rewarded -- with Christian transcendence or, at least, an old-fashioned Assumption. This might be sweet. Or it might be a very cynical reduction of the primary impulse to religious faith. In "White Mane," the sacrifice is even more explicit. A boy and his horse are hunted down by adult ranchers -- while a narrator makes vague promises of a better world to come.

The beautiful imagery of both films is deployed in support of a moral system -- a blunt promise of rewards for good behavior -- not much more sophisticated than that of Santa and the Easter Bunny. Ah, the time-honored tradition of adults indoctrinating kids in a worldview that will lead only to bitter disappointment, unless the kids refuse to grow up. Which seems to be increasingly the case.




If you're angry right now that the innocence of Lamorisse's message has been trampled beneath the boot of cynical criticism, good. That's the point. These are kiddie films, and adults shouldn't be there for the simple enjoyment of watching a story unfold. Perhaps the best adult response to these films would be critical detachment and a profound sense of relief: There they are, the old lies we tell kids, and thank goodness we don't believe them anymore.



There are perfectly worthy reasons to keep these films in circulation. Visually, they are masterful. And it's fascinating to see children's films in which children are not running the show, and there's no subversively sly adult meta-level filled with knowing jokes that fly right over the heads of the little ones. But in their very purity, in their resolutely adult vision of a child's supposed moral universe, these two films are profoundly manipulative.
Red Balloon and White Mane (72 minutes at Landmark's E Street Cinema) are not rated and contain peril and violence to animals.







__________________________________________________________________________



http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/White_Mane/70085456?trkid=496624
White Mane(Crin Blanc: Le Cheval Sauvage)


195340mNRRate 5 starsRate 4 starsRate 3 starsRate 2 starsRate 1 starNot InterestedClearSaving.....Our best guess for Edward:

4.9 stars.Average of 14,012 ratings:

3.3 stars ..A young boy (Alain Emery) grows entranced with a magnificent wild horse in a remote part of southern France after watching the local cowboys try to break it. Sensing that the lad's motives are different, the stallion slowly lets the young rider tame him. Director Albert Lamorisse shows nature at its most raw and powerful in an unforgettable tale of trust and freedom that was honored with the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes.

What a cinematic Black and White 40 minute masterpiece! I have no clue how Director Albert Lamorisse (The Red Balloon) managed to film White Mane - the photography of the horses and horseback riding are phenomenal. The story is simple: White Mane is a magnificent wild stallion, leader of the herd of...read more wild horses; Wranglers capture White Mane with his herd but he manages to escape, several times; an absolutely angelic looking (even dressed in white) young boy, Folco (Alain Emery), manages to befriend White Mane, and is able to ride him; after many chases these two escape the evil wranglers. Actually the ending is somewhat ambiguous - there are two possible outcomes of the final escape scene and you're left to your own conclusions. The young Alain Emery is obviously a very accomplished horseman - scenes of him riding bareback are stunning. The scenery of Southern France is beautiful - the moors, the swamps, the ocean are all captured by the camera during the chase scenes. The music soundtrack uses a full orchestra, with certain instruments representing White Mane, Folco, and the wranglers - sort of a theme for each. There's very little narrative, which is in French, however, there is a narrator that does a voice-over in English, which I thought worked really well. I felt White Mane is a real classic, and do highly recommend a viewing.
 
Whilst in grade school (Le Lac Region, FR), we all enjoyed Crin-Blanc, WHITE MANE: One of the works by adored Albert Lamorosse (films aimed at our poignant young imaginations) (see also, Le Ballon Rouge). His works are likened to imaginative poetry brought to life. Crin-Blanc was the wildest of a ve...read morery wild herd of Camargue horses (white mane flowing in the wind). Metaphorically, the boy who could not live in this world, escaped into the fantasy water world of the river with his mystical horse, Crin-Blanc. I am so happy this film has been made available by NF. 4 stars for the escape back to childhood. Coco C (June 17, 2010)
 
What a truly beautiful movie about the connection between a young boy and a white wild horse! The black and white cinematography is just stunning! I wish the film was longer than just a mere 40 minutes, but within that short time you begin to realize that perhaps horses need to run wild. There's a g...read morereat scene in which 2 white horses sparring and then the one which the young boy attempts and succeeds in taming this white maned horse, when grown men couldn't do. While it is about a boy and a horse, I don't think the ending is suitable for younger children. Really worth watching
 
I enjoyed this movie immensely! I appreciated the message and certainly the cinematography. The wildness of the land and the beauty was captured quite well. I wonder how they were able to film the animal scenes (much less the scenes of the young boy riding). The only thing I didn't like was the ...read moreending, as I didn't necessarily come to the same conclusion that was narrated. I struck me too much of the "your dog went to live on a farm where she'll be very happy" line. :( But it could have been interpreted in a different way also. I suppose that is left to the viewer to decide.