Mahil Senathirajah
By Mahil Senathirajah
UC Santa Barbara Film Studies alum Matthew Mishory brought his latest film, “Who are the Marcuses”, to SBIFF this year.
The film’s center is the engrossing and improbable story of a modest couple, Howard and Lottie Marcus, who, out of the blue, bequeath almost $500 million to Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israeel to support advanced water projects. The couple were living in a two bedroom unit in a retirement village in San Diego and, as a philanthropy consultant remarks in the movie, the mystery was “who are they and where did they get all that money?”.
The first part of the film sets about answering that question following their family history as early refugees from increasingly anti-semitic pre-WWII Germany to land in New York. They meet, marry, and Howard embarks on a career on Wall Street which eventually leads him to be an early employee of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway as Buffet pioneers value-based investing. Buffet is interviewed for the film and learning a little bit about his early story is one of the pleasures of the film.
The film then switches to providing a lucid and largely compelling history of the creation of Israel, the existential importance of water to its survival, and the technology that it has developed. As the movie states, “the heroes are our water engineers” – perhaps echoing the importance of William Mulholland to the development of Los Angeles.
The film also covers the geopolitical value of water technology as a “catalyst for collaboration” in the region, the philosophical basis of Zionism, the Jewish concept of Jubilee as well as surfers who care for the ocean.
If that sounds like a lot to put into a film, it is. But, the accomplished direction and structure keeps the film moving at a brisk pace with a good and pretty comprehensive mix of historical footage (including an interview with Howard in 2008), archival images, talking heads (including anchoring interviews with their only daughter Ellen) and Israeli landscapes.
The score and cinematography are first rate and make Who Are the Marcuses a pretty easy watch. The film does focus on the water technology components and Judaism and so would be especially appealing to those interested in both of those subjects. Given the water problems in Santa Barbara and the de-salination efforts going on here, the film has local relevance. Anyone know of a nice, elderly couple here with $500 million living off the philanthropic radar?
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs through February 18. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes and tickets are on sale now at .
