One of the director's oddest and least familiar works, "Where Is Freedom?," a raucous yet dark-hued comedy from 1954 (in the Lionsgate set "Roberto Rossellini: Collector's Edition"), implies, in its very setup, a deep historical perspective.
It's a rich enough setup, but the exposition and historical context are awkwardly conveyed, the dialogue is stiff, and, as directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, the performances skew loud and stereotypical.
Encountering Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor on a program of otherwise more or less explicitly Jewish works at Bargemusic on Friday, then, seemed like the setup for a strained exercise in historical revisionism.
This opens the door to quickly experimenting with your funnels, using your historical data to hone in on the optimal setup.
It's a fictional setup, but the timing was chosen for its historical accuracy.
If the setup sounds familiar, that is because "The Silence of the Lambs" was a more audaciously fictional take on the same historical premise.
