Jerusalem, min elskede

Very up-close and personal pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The author's honesty is overwhelmingly moving. It makes your heart pound wildly, like you yourself are under some private confession or self-examination. The answer isn't in solving the problems. It's in asking the questions. God is our Father, no matter the religion. To our Father we go back. The film is about that journey, through several dimensions and levels. It's a therapeutic experience, a quest, a child's game with its identity, a constant search and scrutiny... The film is so tender and subtle that calling it a documentary is just a rough categorization, because it IS a true story after all, with no actors. It was made not to inform you, but to engage you. Jerusalem is what it should be. "The City of Messianic peace", as a character told. The peace that is never achieved, but always striven to. Just for a moment it's risen above wars, history, propaganda and global strategy, and yet, it's so aware and strong in the presence of all that. Jerusalem is chaos and crowd, heat and dust, drugs and violence, but it's also shadows of the desert and tight alleys, cold and pure water used in baptizing and ceremonial washing, it's milk and honey and the serenity of siestas. The film is basically so unpretentious and simple, but one can so truly feel the length and the intensity of the time spent in Israel, the depth of relationships with its citizens and the force of the will to excavate everything there is or could be within an apparently lost soul, or within the lost faith. Like a story writing itself. The biggest part of the author's achievement here is his heart. It's wide opened, like a radar pointed towards good voices, right questions and stories deserving to be heard. Thank you, Jeppe, for all that courage.

January 25th 2005, Belgrade

You might say that to really understand the three monotheist religions so strongly affecting the life in Europe, one should go to Jerusalem and see where the ideals and the myths were born... or created. In 'Jerusalem, min elskede', we see one man having done that. Having got to know the modern-day "prophets" of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, looking after the souls of Jerusalem, he should have something to say about the nature of these three religions so closely connected.

It is obvious that a documentary like this is a challenging task. In this case, the director chose to take a very strong personal touch. We get to see the "prophets" through the eyes of a man full of doubt, but a willing to do good. This is probably a good choice... if the director only had thought things over. In this case, the movie is nothing but a nice try. The direction is too much of a mess. Fortunately it leaves the main question, the one over the existence of God, unanswered, which of course suits me. Everyone can make their own interpretations.

On the other side, it gives us many glimpses on the religious men helping the poor and misfortunate, but fails to see the other side. We are given hints of violence and madness having connections to religion, but the director seems to consider them a minor detail, which is strange, because Jerusalem is not only the capital of religions, but also the capital of religious wars of today. Then again, the war of religious groups is what we always get to see from Jerusalem, so someone might forgive the attempt to fade the violent side. Not me, or at least not completely. What this movie really lacks is a portrait of an extreme right-wing Jude - an extreme islamist is shortly shown.

I did not get at all bored with this film, but it didn't give me much either. The main problem might be my own atheism, which makes me demand a more cultural-based perspective on religions. I hope more movies like this will be made, as I might find my own among them. But for those in doubt of their beliefs and ideals, this might be a good choice. It brings up many important questions of religion and tries to provide you something to answer them with.