FILM
Q&A: “Minyan” Director Eric Steel
Teen grapples with identity in 1980s Brighton Beach
BY GARY M. KRAMER
“Minyan,” directed and cowritten
by out gay fi lmmaker
Eric Steel (“The
Bridge”), is an observant,
melancholic, coming-of-age drama
set in Brooklyn in the winters of
1986 and 1987.
The fi lm, which is based on a
short story by David Bezmozgis,
has teenager David (Samuel H.
Levine) grappling with being Jewish
in the tight-knit Russian Jewish
community of Brighton Beach
and being gay in the era of AIDS.
However, “Minyan,” is not a coming
out story, but rather, it is an
immersive drama that shows how
David struggles to fi nd a sense of
self and belonging in both communities.
Despite friction with his parents,
David is devoted to his grandfather,
Josef (Ron Rifkin), who moves into
subsidized housing. His neighbors
are Itzik (Mark Margolis) and Herschel
(Christopher McCann), two
widowers who are now a discreet
gay couple. David is also covertly
exploring his own homosexuality,
sneaking into a gay bar, and
eventually becoming intimate with
the sexy bartender, Bruno (Alex
Hurt).
The fi lm boasts an impressive,
internal performance by Levine,
and strong support from the entire
ensemble cast. Steel chatted with
Gay City News about his fi lm.
KRAMER: “Minyan” uses
James Baldwin’s writing, the
song “Giant,” (with the lyric,
“How can anyone know me/when
I don’t even know myself?”), and
other works to exploring identity.
Can you discuss the fi lm’s
ideas of identity, religion, sexuality,
and community?
STEEL: I read James Baldwin
when I was in my early teens.
When I went to boarding school, I
discovered “Giovanni’s Room.” As
soon as I saw this story in writing,
I knew this life could exist somewhere.
That push and pull between
identity and being — who am I and
where do I belong? — that was how
I formulated things. I didn’t feel
“Minyan” focuses on a teenager grappling with being Jewish and gay in the AIDS era in a tight-night
Russian community in Brighton Beach.
Jewish. I remember being one of
the few Jewish kids in a WASPy
grade school and the temptation
to pretend I wasn’t Jewish — how
strong that was. Those things work
as pulls in my life, and I kept fi nding
answers in books and poetry.
When I found “Giovanni’s Room,”
I didn’t want to give it back to the
library. I wanted to keep the book.
This was back in the day when you
wrote your name in the book. Who
else is reading this? Then I can
fi nd where I belong or who I belong
with. Young people today take for
granted that they will see representations
of gay or queer people, and
that is not the way the world was
in 1980-1982. Gay bars didn’t have
Rainbow Flags. You were knocking
on a door and had no idea what
was on the other side.
KRAMER: The fi lm provides
fragments of David’s life to piece
together, which is a canny approach.
What can you say about
how you created the drama,
which is more episodic?
STEEL: It is maybe my idea on
how meaning, and the shape of
one’s life, accrues as opposed to
being patterned. I believe myself
to be a queer storyteller. I think
STRAND RELEASING
there is a queer way to tell a story.
I saw how the story came together,
where there were fragments that
were happening in one part of David’s
life that were informing something
happening in another part of
his life, like seeing Itzik and Herschel’s
toothbrushes. That leapfrogging
and stitch-work is how I
tell stories naturally. The model
for what a straight romance looks
like on fi lm doesn’t apply so easily
in my experience, to gay life.
Interruptions, omissions, and secrets
are what you need, and learn
to see. You learn them as a queer
person but also as an immigrant
— hide where you came from, hide
your identity.
KRAMER: What observations
do you have about the characters’
relationship with religion
and its infl uence as a guiding
force?
STEEL: I didn’t have a lot of
Jewish education when I dived into
this. One Rabbi told me, and he did
not invent this interpretation —
be kind to strangers because you
were once a stranger in a strange
land yourself. It is about these
kindnesses, and things one person
does to another person to help
them move along on a journey. The
idea of a minyan to me — I get it is
the 10 men you pray with — but
there is the gay family you build.
There is also 10 men who come together
around David and move
him with prayer and want to help
him move forward in this world. All
of these people touch him in that
way. Be kind to a stranger. Here
is this young person who shows a
genuine interest and wants to see
and acquire knowledge and wants
to learn so they move and guide
him.
KRAMER: What can you say
about the depiction of Itzik and
Herschel? That relationship becomes
quite important and more
impactful to David than his other
relationships.
STEEL: One thing that was important
to me was this sense of
transmission, what you are handing
off. Joseph is imparting wisdom
and experience he learned
as a Jew. The same things are being
transmitted by Herschel and
Itzik, but you are seeing them in a
slightly different phase. Later, the
taxi driver is also imparting things
to David. Even the bartender imparts
wisdom to David.
KRAMER: Can we talk about
David’s relationship with Bruno?
STEEL: To me, the 1980s was
still a moment when there was a big
question mark next to gay relationships.
No one knows that Herschel
and Itzik shared a bed. The person
Bruno that David sees at the bar
and is attracted to, brings him into
his home and he is given access to
another space. And I think Bruno
is giving and not giving at the
same time. There is a lot he is offering
David — a sexual playbook,
and a place to put his head. There
is a connection. Whether it actually
turns to romance or not, part
of that is on Bruno. It’s not that
Bruno is a heartbreaker; he knows
what’s going on in the world. Bruno
sees in this young man a version of
himself.
MINYAN | Directed by Eric Steel
| Opening Oct. 22 at the IFC Center
| Distributed by Strand Releasing
October 21 - November 3 , 2 30 021 | GayCityNews.com
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