Goodbye, Columbus

Phillip Roth is considered one of the most acclaimed writers in the world today, and each of his literary works evokes enthusiastic reactions from renowned critics. However, literary awards tend to elude him and his books are usually not among the bestsellers. He does use amazing language and can analyze the movements in society and capture the nature of his character excellently, but he is a very unpleasant author because even though he writes with humorous exaggeration, he is sarcastic and ruthlessly cruel to his characters and readers. That is actually how it is with this film. It describes the story of a girl from a successful family and a young man who is still searching for his way in life. But it's not a pleasant romance, but rather a caustic look at a certain social class and its rules. America never had nobility, but it has been and still is socially divided, and its upper class is well protected by social barriers and membership in exclusive clubs. Roth, through Larry Peerce, ridicules the rich manners of the successful Jewish community and the bourgeois attitudes of his protagonist's parents. The girl, although she looks at her parents with a critical view of the rebellious youth of the 60s and finds the conservative ways of the previous generation alien to her, cannot exist without her parents' wealth. The young man Neil, although he instinctively feels resistance to this environment and glosses over the events around him somewhat like Oscar Wilde, cannot offer a meaningful alternative. Overall impression: 80%. (04.11.2011)