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Seeking gangsters, must speak Yiddish: Bringing the Hasidic underworld to life in 'Caught Stealing'

JL;DR SUMMARY Liev Schreiber, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Austin Butler star in Darren Aronofsky's film "Caught Stealing," which features a unique portrayal of Yiddish-speaking Hasidic gangsters and their grandmother, set in 1998 New York City. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

YiddishNew York CityNational Yiddish Theatre FolksbieneMultilingualismCultural AuthenticityLiev SchreiberDarren AronofskyHasidic GangstersVincent D'onofrioAustin Butler

Places mentioned

Crown Heights, New York, United States
"(The dynasty to which the brothers belong is never specified, but their scenes with Kane were filmed on location at a Lubavitcher household in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.)"
New York City, New York, United States
"The duo show up as a threat to the films protagonist, Hank (Austin Butler), who finds himself caught in the middle of their quest to recover piles of money from other ethnic gangs in 1998 New York City."

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Cairo Item ID 60679
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-04 05:31:00 UTC
Curated 2025-09-04 08:30:58 UTC