A Jewish boy thinks seriously about the meaning of his forthcoming Bar Mitzvah and realises the limitations of his father and other male members of the family. Meanwhile his family prepares for the celebration, preoccupied with the food, guest lists, clothes and preparations for the event.
Jack Rosenthal’s script is brilliant, funny and touching with the build-up of anticipation and mild foreboding as the ceremony looms and then the tears and anxieties with the momentum gathering for the final happy and ironic ending. A true TV classic, The Bar Mitzvah Boy was recently selected for the bfi TV 100 – the British Film Institute’s list of all-time top British television programmes.