SF Jewish Film Festival :: Sidney Turtlebaum
In "Sidney Turtlebaum," the title character has a habit of stealing small objects of value from the homes of mourners, but Derek Jacobi, the actor who portrays Sidney, steals the scenes. Neither can help themselves: it’s what they both do best.
The film is an 18-minute glimpse of the self-indulgent survival mannerisms of an elderly and lifelong lonely man, who amuses himself by cruising death notices in the London Jewish Post identifying Shiva houses of mourning, then posing as a dear but hitherto unknown friend of the deceased, disarming the mourners with his charm and pocketing household items on his way out.
We begin with Sidney buying time with an angelic looking hustler named Gabriel (Rupert Evans), tthen taking him out for a drink and then as a sidekick on one of his mourning calls. Gabriel, who seemed not at all conflicted about indulging a man’s fantasy in exchange for payment, is aghast at Sidney’s creation of fantasies for mourners and charging them without their knowledge for his interlude.
Jacobi is Jacobi; if you liked him in "I, Claudius," "Dead Again" or as Brother Cadfael, you will not be disappointed.
For showtimes in the San Francisco Film Festival, visit www. fest.sfjff.org.
