GODSTUFF

IN THE BEGINNING:
HAROLD RAMIS TAKES ON GENESIS IN ‘YEAR ONE’

Last month, Harold Ramis, the writer, director and actor of comedy classics such as “Caddyshack,” and “Groundhog Day,” released “Year One,” a raucous comedy starring Jack Black as Z, a caveman who gets thrown out of his tribe and village for breaking its one rule, only to stumble upon a civilization populated by characters from the Bible, beginning with Adam and Eve.

“Year One,” which Ramis describes as a “high-minded, low comedy,” has received a decidedly mixed reception, both commercially and critically. But I think it’s one of those slow burners — a film so silly on the surface that the big ideas lying underneath take time to take hold.

Ramis’ latest film reminds me a lot of Kevin Smith’s “Dogma,” a sometimes gross, ribald, obscene comedy that has some of the most articulate and powerful things to say about faith, religion and the grace of God in film.

At a special screening of the film for Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living, the Highland Park, IL synagogue that he joined with his family not long after 9/11, Ramis talked about the spiritual ideas behind “Year One.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, Ramis was in New York City. “We were on our way to LaGuardia when the first plane hit,” he recalled. “I started thinking a lot about the fundamentalisms and orthodoxies that have driven world conflict for a very long time and drive a deep-seated internal conflict we all have. Is life meaningful? Is it purposeful? Is there a creator and a God who watches over us and actually cares about what we do. Or have we generated all of that as a response to uncertainty in the world.”

Not long after the terrorist attacks, Ramis, who has described himself spiritually as “Buddhish” — culturally Jewish but more Buddhist in practice and beliefs — attended Rosh Hashana services at Aitz Hayim.

The rabbi “told stories of people who either were at the World Trade Center or might have been but chose not to be for whatever reason. I think he said . . . ‘uncertainty is the condition of life and randomness is its expression.’ I kind of believe that orthodoxy and fundamentalism is an effort to blot out that uncertainty. It’s just too painful for a lot of people and too frightening to live in a world where they are responsible. But I think that’s the essence of being Jewish, to take personal responsibility.”

Ramis, who was raised in a Jewish home in Chicago and even attended an Orthodox yeshiva for six months, turned to the Torah.

“I thought I would track through Genesis and see how we got where we are . . . When the studio said, ‘What’s the movie about?’ I said I want to track the psychosocial development of civilization through the Old Testament,’ and they said, ‘We can’t really put that on a poster,’ ” Ramis said. “Who are Adam and Eve, really, in the Bible? Obviously they are primitive man. They live in a garden. They are hunter-gatherers. Everything is given to them. There’s no moral authority because they don’t even have any concept of ethics yet because it’s not required. So they live in a state of innocence, and then they’re driven from the garden because they broke the one rule.

“Our main characters, of course, eat the fruit. The consequence is an awakening into the existential dilemma, because that’s what God lays out. ‘Now you’re going to be mortal.’ That’s the first premise in existentialism. Life is finite. We’re all going to die. . . . They venture out into the world, a world of moral chaos. The first person they meet is Cain [David Cross] who is already in this deep sibling rivalry with Abel [Paul Rudd]. So I wanted to look at that. We kind of play Cain as the first sociopath. He’s a narcissist [who] sees the world entirely from his point of view.”

It would be easy to dismiss “Year One” for its fart, poop and pee jokes (it has all three). But there is a soul beneath the sight gags.

“Jack Black’s character believes that he’s been chosen, that he has a special destiny,” Ramis said. “It’s the only way to explain how he screws up so often. It’s not his fault. Something is guiding him. He won’t take personal responsibility for what’s happening. It’s externally derived. God wants him to do it. ‘Why did I eat that fruit? Maybe God wanted me to eat the fruit.’ He thinks he’s chosen. His young partner, Michael Cera [as the character Oh], believes that life is totally random and accidental, and therefore terrifying to him. When they encounter Abraham [Hank Azaria], who also believes he’s chosen, we begin to see what the effects of an external God who speaks to you is, who tells Abraham to sacrifice his son.”

One of the main characters from the Book of Genesis is missing from “Year One”: The Almighty.

“Our characters keep debating, God/no God. Philosophically what it says is, whether you believe in God or not makes no difference. You still have the obligation to act responsibly in the world,” Ramis said.

“God does not make an appearance in the film. That’s up to you,” he said, chuckling. “But I do play Adam.”