Last Days At The ‘Colony’

by George Robinson

For 25 years, they’ve been coming up to the Catskills, an increasingly beleaguered “colony” composed of aging survivors of the Shoah. They call their little patch of paradise the Four Seasons Lodge, and this summer of 2006 may represent their last stand among the bungalows.

The only thing that’s different is the presence of a film crew, following their slowly dawning realization that, despite a community decision to dissolve the place and sell it off, they don’t want to leave yet, not while the music is still playing.

“Four Seasons Lodge” is a first film by Andrew Jacobs, a reporter for The New York Times who came upon the community when he was reporting on summer life in the Catskills. Like any

good reporter, he saw the possibilities of the story instantly and, having received permission from the residents, he filmed what was supposed to be the last summer of the colony.

He probably got more than he bargained for, because his film is downright overstuffed with great material, from memories of Auschwitz and the other camps to the drama of daily life among a group, many of whom are in increasingly precarious health, to the battle to save the colony from dissolution.

And therein lies the problem.

Faced with this embarrassment of riches, Jacobs is caught like a compulsive eater staring at a smorgasbord. He wants to eat a little bit of everything on the buffet table, and the result quickly becomes indigestible. The personalities of the colony members are almost uniformly effervescent and lively. A film just based around the byplay between the married couples would be a delight by itself. (Neil Simon should only write such dialogue!)

Certainly, a film in which the questions of memory and survival are explored could be artfully extracted from conversations with these people. And, of course, there is always the drama of the impending finish of the community, poignantly racing side by side with the Angel of Death.

But at 97 minutes, Jacobs ends up giving short shrift to each of these themes. Although there are hints of the fading future of the colony sprinkled throughout the first two-thirds of the film, the seriousness of the situation only becomes apparent in the final half-hour, and even then we are not privy to the meetings at which decisions are made, not even to the extent of having someone explain what is happening.

Jacobs makes more felicitous choices in his focus on specific members of the community. Hymie, the founder and unpaid handyman of — and wry commentator on the colony — is a winning presence, a man of iron will and ready, if dark, wit. (He says of his workload and tenure, “They call this place a paradise; it’s not a paradise for me, it’s a labor camp.”)

Olga and Genya are lifelong friends and companions who summer together every year at the Lodge, bolstering one another with humor and candor. Aron is a randy 91-year-old with inoperable cancer of the bladder, who still is up for a dance and a drink. In short, although as one of the community says, “For everyone, some more, some less, the memories are always in the background,” these survivors are feisty, lively and spoiling for a fight.

In its best moments, “Four Seasons Lodge” showcases their bountiful life force. But the film would have to be twice its current length to do anything remotely resembling justice to their stories.

“Four Seasons Lodge,” directed by Andrew Jacobs, is playing at the IFC Center (Sixth Avenue and Waverly Place). For information, call (212) 924-7771 or go to www.ifccenter.com.

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