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Motti, sporting a black yarmulke and ritual fringes, strikes Laura as exotic and personable. The next woman he’s introduced to, Michele (Lena Kalisch), seems suitable, but she fades out of the picture after he meets Laura (Noemie Schmidt), the student who caught his eye. Having decided to change his nerdy image, he shaves off his red beard and buys a new pair of glasses. Motti, having seen a woman in his class who attracts him, conjures up a vision of what Judith’s hysterical reaction would be if he actually dated this non-Jewish woman. In real life, Motti sidelines Bracha, determined to choose his own bride. He has a dream in which he and Bracha copulate wildly to produce a brood of children who will be raised in the Orthodox Jewish tradition. In the opening scene, she and Motti are sitting in a car en route to meet Bracha, a prospect she describes as a “real beauty.” Bracha, in fact, is matronly and fond of baking cookies.Īt this point, Motti’s imagination takes flight. A consummate matchmaker, she’s completely devoted to this task.
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With Motti now of marriageable age, Judith’s raison d’etre is to find him a suitable mate. He and his parents, Judith (Inge Maux) and Moshe (Udo Samel), live together in a nondescript apartment in an unnamed city in Switzerland. The central figure in this Swiss comedy, Motti Wolkenbruch (Joel Basman, in a convincing performance), is an eligible Orthodox bachelor who juggles employment at his father’s small insurance company with his study of economics at university. An assortment of stereotypes pop up in Michael Stein’s farce, The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch, which is now available on Netflix. Unfolding in a smattering of German, Yiddish and Hebrew, this light, amusing film lampoons two well-worn tropes - the overbearing Jewish mother trying to rein in her rebellious son, and the young Jewish man lusting after a vivacious Christian woman.