Jezus is een Palestijn

I don't care what anyone says about this film. For one thing it is very silly, but it is also extremely cool and funny. A film like this could never have been made by anyone but an eccentric Dutch director.

His latest film Met Grote Blijdschap shows of a greater talent to direct actors and get the most out of them, but it's also a lot more boring and serious.

Jesus is een Palestijn totally takes the p... at religious cults both for the unquestionable faith and the money they ask from their followers. Thereby I like to think it challenges the whole idea of religion and following any leader who doesn't allow you your own world views. For this reason this film is pretty daring and certainly unconventional.

I thought it was extremely funny and inventive. Hans Teeuwen, a stand-up comedian in real life, is very disarming as the friendly and somewhat naive Ramses, stuck under the "tiranny" of his Indian guru and his blind followers. Kim van Kooten manages to make a convincing dominating and bitchy sister.

The scenes taking place in the multi-cultural Bijlmer brilliantly put this often forsaken neighbourhood in the spotlight. The scenes taking place at the cult's area are shot at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, as some would like to know.

The film is not a serious one and doesn't have any pretentions about that. It's uncomplicated and forward, uncompromising and fresh. I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw it on TV. I guess some would call it crap or nonsense, which it's also, both! That's exactly why I think this is the funniest Dutch film ever made. Not for everyone I'm sure though.

Where do you start when reviewing a film such as this? At the outset it can be said to be very different. But it's such an improbable and unpredictable mixture of gurus, initiations, drugs, body piercings, euthanasia, doctors,religious publications, charlatans and sex! Only the most imaginative writer could conceive such a script! It's a satire of course and the scriptwriter is pointing an accusing finger at the goings-on in this questionable world in which we live. Strangely enough,I find it positively entertaining apart from a couple of excruciatingly painful scenes (I am sure all males will agree!) Hans Teeuwen plays the main role of Alfred, a naive Palestinian guy who ends up as a member of a strange sect. Naming him Ramses, the members, garbed in biblical robes and bodies liberally pierced with metal rings, begin to prepare Ramses for an experimental sharing of a drug absorbed through the marrow of the shinbone. They are an unruly-looking lot and the worst of them all is the chief guru, Kahn Guru, referred to as Kangaroo, a man of awful demeanor and sadistic power. The question of euthanasia comes up when Ramses and his sister visit their dying father in an Amsterdam hospital. Ramses refuses to sign any papers until his father concurs. Unfortunately, father is in a coma and cannot speak until Ramses anoints him with an unproven remedy, provided by a guru who foretells the coming of a new Palestinian Messiah. Father insists on being kept alive until his sins have been forgiven. The scriptwriter pulls out all stops for the concluding scenes when huge neon crosses are erected on the top of a tall building and bed-ridden father is hoisted up to be present when the Messiah arrives. It's ridiculous to an extreme, but keeps one guessing at what can possibly happen next e.g. the appearance of a glow in the sky rapidly advancing towards the assembled believers creates interest and a feeling of anticipation..... After watching this film (dare I admit it?) a couple of times, these often quoted words come to mind: "All the world's queer except thee and me, and even thee's a little queer!"

What was Crijns thinking? Okay, he has claimed in interviews he likes this film better than his Met grote blijdschap (2001), but I bet he is the only one. That film was quite well made and made good use of the fine actors that were in it. But this?! O, my God. Kim van Kooten gives her only bad performance ever. And even worse: it looks like this film killed the carreer in movies Hans Teeuwen might have had. The most talented stand up in Holland had to see that his friend Theo Maasen (who always was considered to be tthe second greatest talent in stand up) did make it. Theo did very well AmnesiA (2001), also a small obscure film like Jezus is een Palestijn, but much better. Where Jezus is een Palestijn was slaughtered, AmnesiA was praized, as was Maassen, who then was put in the Dutch blockbuster Minoes (2001) with AmnesiA co-star Carice van Houten. (Both were very good in it, by the way)

And all Teeuwen was allowed to do in that film was a small bitpart: the voice of one of the cats. It's a shame. Maassen is now even in several TV-series and Teeuwen is never used. But I'm sure he could do better than in this film. I hope they give him a next chance. Let's just hope it's not Crijns who gives it....

In this unusual portrayal of people trying to find salvation in new kinds of religion in this era at the end of the millenium, the story focuses on Ramses, a young and impressionable man. Ramses is a member of a religious cult, located in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. .. Everything's all right in the end, but not as you expect it.

I gave this film a six. It's worth seeing, but don't expect too much. A laugh or two and some funny ideas (Boeing crash on Bijlmer + smoking through your legs! + the title of the film).

The thing I liked most about the movie was the characterisation of Ramses. I believe that there are a lot of people out there who feel and act the same way as he does. Ramses is a person, that chooses the easy way and thereby throws his life away. As he comes from a difficult family situation this is in some way understandable, but he goes too far. He ends up back where he started, because he does not know what to do with his life. I hope the film helps people to see this waste and change their lives.