A well-depicted record of a remarkable undertaking. Two designer/architect/sculptors (a married American couple who incidentally are not Jewish) are inspired to recreate part of a wooden 17th-18th century Polish synagogue which was burned by the Nazis in WW II. All other of the many such wooden buildings in Eastern Europe were also destroyed by the Nazis.
Owing to unique circumstances, black and white records of the exterior and of the interior rich ornamentation of only this synagogue had survived.
Hundreds of skilled craftsmen, dedicated interns and volunteers, and paid workers executed construction of the 22 ton framework using 18th century tools. Likewise, painting the interior decoration was guided by well-explained scholarly guesswork of appropriate color choices.
The photography is excellent. The background klezmer music reaches one's soul. One could quibble that judicious editing would have saved some film time to answer inevitable questions about managing such a large and diverse non-corporate operation over several years.
