A REAL PAIN

US/Poland, 2024, 90 minutes, Colour.

Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Daniel Oreskes, Liza Sadovy, Kurt Egyiawan.

Directed by Jesse Eisenberg.

90 minutes well spent.

An acknowledgement of actor/writer/director, Jesse Eisenberg.   for morethan 20 years he has been on screen, his appearance is usually a variation on his vintage performance, more than a touch the edgy. (And he did play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Contract, 2012.) So, it is surprising to find that he has written and directed A Real Pain, a role for himself which is familiar, but creating a very different character for Kieran Culkin (winning the Golden Globe for his performance).

We are invited to spend the 90 minutes in their company. Ben (Culkin) is already at the airport, lounging around, watching people. His cousin, David (Eisenberg), with a wife and daughter at home , is hurrying to the airport, compulsively phoning his cousin Ben (and later David refers to OCD). And, why are they at the airport? They are cousins, same age, longtime friends, but mostly different in personalities. And their Jewish grandmother, who had experienced the Holocaust, has died but has left them enough money to travel to her native Poland to visit her old home.

They have booked into a tour, led by sympathetic British scholar (Will Sharpe) along with a middle-aged Jewish couple who have prospered in the US, Marcia (Jennifer Grey) a divorcee and, surprisingly, Eloge, a refugee from the Rwandan genocide, welcomed by  a Jewish community in Canada and converting.

Throughout the film great deal of Chopin’s music.

On the one hand, there is quite a lot of comedy, sometimes black comedy, always focused on Ben, enormous mood swings, trying to be friendly but ready to turn on people, speak frankly, practically no filters. And, of course, David is always trying to make excuses for him until, finally, in a long close-up on Jesse Eisenberg’s face, as he explains his cousin to the other members of the group.

And, there are some tense moments for the group as well as for the audience, Ben suddenly erupting as they travel first class through Poland and he vigorously reminds them of the train voyages of their ancestors to the camps. And, at an old grave, he turns on the guide, criticising him for his facts and statistics instead of talking in humane terms about the stories. But, at a monument in Warsaw, he rushes off to pose like an attacking soldier, David to take photos, and urging the rest of the group to come and pose with him – which they do.

And, so, on the other hand, there is the very serious issues of memories of the Holocaust, truly moving scene as they visit the city of Lublin and its memories, a visit to the nearby concentration camp of Majdanek, brief indications, silence, for them to remember as well as for us to contemplate. And, finally, quite a visit to their grandmother’s house, an edgy encounter with the neighbours. But, mission accomplished.

The other serious theme of the film is that of the personality of Ben, the fact that he can be a real pain but also the personal, mental struggles.

A significant film for later generations of Jewish people remembering their ancestors in the Holocaust. A significant invitation to empathy for wider audiences.

1. The ambiguity of the title? Ben as an annoying real pain? The contrast with the pilgrimage to Poland, memories of the Holocaust in the camps, memories of the real pain, reliving the pain? And pain in the present, Ben as a tormented character?
2. Jesse Eisenberg, writing, directing, performing, a variation on his vintage nervy performances, yet his sensitivity to Ben’s character, to the visit to Poland, to the Holocaust memories? His delineation of characters, the situations, torments, serious, humorous?
3. The wide range of Chopin’s music as accompaniment?
4. The New York opening and closing? David and his world, his mentioning OCD, late, incessant phone calls, reaction at the airport, to Ben, to boarding, the flight? His preoccupation, phone calls, his wife, the young son and his ability to give statistics about buildings? The role of the grandmother, David and Ben’s relationship with her, her leaving the money for them to visit Poland, to see her house? David and his organisation?
5. The introduction to Ben, Kieran Culkin’s performance, many hours at the airport, interested in the range of people, his background, the grandmother and his devotion, living in his parent’s basement, the later revelation of the attempted suicide, his mental condition? Erratic, the range of moods, mood swings? The bond with David despite their different worlds, approaches to life?
6. The bond between the two, conversations, humour, David’s exasperation, Ben’s outbursts, David’s apologies, sharing the room, the meals, the episode of David sleeping in the train and their having to return, Ben’s confrontational actions, the effect of the trip, the grandmother, memories of the past?
7. The tour, the hotel accommodation, the group travelling together, James, British background, not Jewish, five years of leading the groups, his commentary, friendliness? Accosted by Ben about Germany facts and figures, wanting empathy, James saying this was a first-time he had been given feedback, his serious considerations? His sensitivity during the visit to the concentration camp? His consideration of the other members of the group?
8. The members of the group, Marcia, age, the divorce, the absent children, ladies who lunch? Friendly, her response to Ben? The middle-aged couple, ordinary Americans, their Jewish heritage, memories, prosperity in America? Eloge and his story, victim of the Rwandan genocide, Canada escape, welcomed by the Jewish community, conversion, valuing the Sabbath and the time for recollection, a gentleman, sincerity? The interactions as a group, attention to James, the various reactions to Ben?
9. The various episodes and their impact, comic touches, serious reflections, memories of the past? The monument in Warsaw, larger than life, the resistance, Ben and his posing, persuading all the others to come and pose, David having to take all the photos? The effect on each member of the group from this activity? The issue of travelling in first-class, Ben and his outburst, the memories of the past, the different reactions from the group, not worrying, justified, David and his upset, Ben walking out, David going to find him? The consequence, David going to sleep, passing the station, Ben’s declaration that David was so peaceful and could not wake him up? Getting out of the train, going the opposite direction, eluding the land and the tickets, reuniting with the group?
10. The city of Lublin and, the views, the memories, the literary tradition? The gate monument, going to the oldest grave in Poland, James and his commentary, Ben’s outbursts, against statistics, wanting the human element, James taken aback, the reaction of the group, David and embarrassment? The solution of putting the stones and tribute on the headstone? And James’s later comments and reactions?
11. The meal, the talk, Ben and his outburst, leaving, David and his monologue, the close-up on his face, his sharing the story of Ben’s attempted suicide, his own emotions, the contrast with their ways of life, yet their bonding and the experience of the trip?
12. Preparation for the travel to the concentration camp, the vast Polish countryside, yet the camps are near to the centre of the Lublin? The treatment of the episode, the silencing of the music, the brief commentary an indication of the buildings, the entry, standing, the blue stains on the gas chamber walls, the opens, the vast collection of shoes… And the audience sharing in the silence and the experience of the group?
13. The parting from the group, the audience feeling that it has been part of the group on the tour? David and Ben going off on their own, coming to the town, finding their grandmother’s house, putting the stones on the doorstep, the old man on the balcony, not speaking English, the young man, their explaining what they were doing, his sympathy, suggesting the stones were dangerous for the elderly woman living there to fall, David and Ben removing them, the glimpse of the final gesture of the old man, a wave or a sign of dismissal?
14. Mission accomplished, going to the airport, the flight back, Ben always able to sleep, David and his phone calls?
15. The farewell at the airport, more conversation, the embrace and all that it meant after the trip and the experiences, the Heritage of the grandmother, the Jewish heritage, and David going home and reuniting with his family, and Ben’s saying at the airport, the range of different people there, the enigmatic final close-up of his face?