“Then I will be a whore. The whore of Babylon. Ik heb nog nooit een onbesneden penis…”, zegt Miriam Zweifler (Sunnyi Melles) en beweegt zwoel met haar schouders naar achteren. Ze zit op het ziekenhuisbed waar haar jongste zoon ligt te slapen. Hij heeft een beetje te veel ketamine gesnoven. Volgens Miriam zou het voorstel van haar man om een open relatie te beginnen de reden zijn dat hun zoon drugs heeft genomen – vandaar haar sarcastische “Whore” statement to her husband.
The relationship problems between mother and father have nothing to do with their son’s overdose. But with their confusing German-Jewish family that is hypermodern and at the same time is still influenced by the memories of Nazi Germany. The German series Those Zweiflers (2024) speaks smoothly in a flexible way and with raw humor about the contemporary situation of Jews in Germany.
In 2024 won Those Zweiflers The prize for best series at the Cannes International Series Festival. The entire series can now be seen on NPO Plus. There will be a second season, but when exactly is not yet known. At the festival the series also won the prize for best music in a series, produced by composers Marko Nyberg and Petja Virikko. Those Zweiflers has similar aesthetically satisfactory locations and casting as the German Netflix series Kleo (2022), A comic action thriller about a spy in East Berlin in the 1980s.
Not so kosher
The Zweifler family has a delicatessen in Frankfurt am Main, started after the war in the destroyed city. Ultimately, the story revolves around a standard family drama: grandparents who demand that their grandchildren take over the family business. Nothing special, but what makes the story special is how three generations give their own shape to intergenerational trauma.
In fact, the small delicatessen imperium turns out not to be that kosher. Grandpa Symcha Zweifler (Mike Burstyn) therefore suddenly has to leave the country. “Maybe they will put you in custody if they are afraid that you flee to Israel,” says his lawyer. “Why to Israel?” He shouts in a tracksuit with large letters USA on it. “Well just because … I know a lot?”, The lawyer replies. An example of the many prejudices about Jews that are bunked In the series.
Moments later, in the same episode, the non-Jewish wife of the eldest son Samuel Zweifler (Aaron Altaras) enters a taxi. The German taxi driver starts to mention a laundry list of things about why he does not trust Jews. He draws lines between the American-Jewish music producer Rick Rubin to the entire financial world: “Everything is in the hands of the Jews.”
Religion as an excuse
The actions of mother Miriam Zweifler are the most amusing. With only one look of her, you can see how she wants someone to die. Like when she finds out that her husband cheated on. She is conservative and therefore a bit ignorant. Whether she is ignorant by using her conservative ideas as an excus for difficult situations. As a viewer you can’t put a finger on it, making Miriam even more interesting.
The diverse ways in which the family members deal with their trauma fits perfectly with our spirit of the times. They are opposed to tradition – get the weak smile during circumcision – but don’t want to get rid of it. Because it is your identity.