Clocking in at well under an hour, House of Life is simply too broadly focused to ever impart a meaningful through-line or in fact to ever reveal what its creators' motives for producing it were to begin with. Don't get me wrong--the documentary is full of interesting factoids, everything from film clips of The Golem to anecdotes of long ago rabbis, to Holocaust tragedies (the cemetery was the only playground available for children in those years), and on and on. But, like the scattered headstones found in the cemetery, it's too chaotic to ever amount to much. Part natural history, part biography, and part cultural analysis, House of Life spreads its focus too broadly to ever achieve a cohesive feel.

The documentary does sport a lovely narration by Claire Bloom, as well as some passingly informative interview segments with historians and restoration experts (one of the neater little segments shows how they repair damaged headstones). Filmmaker Allan Miller, an Academy Award winner for the superb From Mao to Mozart, capitalizes on his musical background and makes sure the film has a wealth of beautiful source music to underscore the images. Some of the choral music is especially lovely, with the dense massed voices that seem particularly endemic to eastern Europe.

My sense is this piece would have been more affecting had it either been longer or, barring that, had concentrated on just one or two items it discusses in its 50 or so minutes in its current form. I personally ended up feeling like one of the tourists the film shows being hurried through the site as a tourguide briefly mentions passing items that no one really ever has a chance to reflect on or react to. That sort of If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium ethos doesn't work well for a subject this weighty, though at the very least it will provide an introduction to several important subjects revolving around Jewish history in the former Czechoslovakia which may help start some viewers on their own fact finding missions.

The DVD

Video:
House of Life has a pretty average looking 1.33:1 image that is a bit on the soft side but not so bad you'll have much to complain about. Colors are acceptable and detail is fine. There are one or two very brief moments of aliasing on some patterns of clothing and the like.

Sound:
The standard stereo soundtrack, which consists entirely of Bloom's narration, interview segments, and the nice underscore, is rendered simply and beautifully. There is nothing stellar here, but certainly nothing that creates any problems.

Extras:
Only a text biography of the filmmakers and trailers for other First Run product are offered.

Final Thoughts:
House of Life is an intriguing premise that really deserves a more in depth treatment. What is here is certainly fine in and of itself, but it moves too quickly through too many disparate elements to ever achieve a lasting impact. Those with an interest in Jewish history could certainly do a lot worse than to Rent It for a quick overview of a fascinating subject.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet