at dan's suggestion i saw the quest for the missing piece (imdb) at the PIGLFF yesterday.
"quest" is a documentary presented like a fairy tale. it's the tale of oded lotan, a gay israeli living in europe, who examines the practice of circumcision. lotan speaks to his family, quizzing his mother why she had him circumcised and his sister about why she decided to have it done on his nephews. he speaks with a russian immigrant to israel, now a soldier in the israeli army, who decides to get circumcised as an adult. and he visits an israeli support group for people who decided not to have their sons circumcised. he talks to psychologists and rabbis, attends a muslim circumcision ceremony, and talks to jews married to gentiles about their decision. lotan also tries to track down his own moyel, the man who circumcised him when he was an infant and then tries to find the spot where his foreskin was buried.
it's a pretty personal film with a fairly light heart (and mercifully is not very graphic). even though it raises the question of why so many people do it, the film doesn't preach for or against the practice of circumcision. one of the other people leaving my screening complained that the film "wasn't fair" because it didn't discuss the health benefits of circumcision. but it also didn't discuss the allegations that circumcision cuts down (heh) on sexual pleasure either. i don't think the movie was trying to be an examination of the pros and cons of the practice, it was more about lotan's attempts to find out why people choose to do it. the way that this strange practice is associated with a feeling of belonging and tradition, and also how social pressure in israel perpetuates the practice even among reluctant parents. for the film maker, the real issue was what business he has being circumcised if it means bonding himself to a tradition that ultimately rejects homosexuals such as himself.
