The Holy Land

Terrific acting and solid writing bolster this coming-of-age tale set in pre-intifada Israel, a morally corrupt place, where nobody seems to be doing the right thing. Particularly interesting is the teenage prostitute Sacha, through whom we see the psychological effects of continued sexual exploitation. Though this is not a story about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, per se, the conflict remains constantly in the background, further complicating the moral landscape. This is not a political film about who's right and who's wrong in the middle east, but rather a personal film about individuals trying to find their way in a particularly insane corner of the world.

[See the IMDb page for this film for the cast - none are known in the U.S.]

"The Holy Land" is a stark, unusual, powerful gaze at Israel's dark underbelly of drugs, prostitution, zany and not necessarily sane Jewish settlers (some are American expatriates) and Palestinians who maintain relations with Jews.

Conventional love stories often provide the backdrop for a director's vision of political turbulence and strife. This one's a bit off the radar screen. Mendy is a yeshiva student expected to spend (waste in my view) his life studying dense tomes of arcane lore and law while producing nothing of value to anyone. An inquiring young man who senses the imprisoning limitations of his religious culture, he reads "profane" literature and masturbates in his bathroom while his ultra-Orthodox parents prepare festive holiday meals. His mother emigrated to Israel from the states and there met her husband. The couple is a caricature of a fundamentalist lifestyle in which everything is regulated and little is understood.

On the advice of a seedy rabbi who sees Mendy isn't with the yeshiva program, he goes to a bar that is a slim cover for prostitution. He meets, receives manual release from and falls in love with a hooker, Sasha, a Russian. She's pretty, cynical and knows how to work a besotted kid.

Their turbulent relationship takes them across Jerusalem where they spend a lot of time in "Mike's Place," a gin mill where Palestinians and Jews are equally welcome as long as they check their firearms behind the bar.

"Mike's Place" is in the tradition of Rick's Cafe but quite a few rungs lower on the ladder of civilized life. The interactions of the bar denizens are interesting and highlight the reality of Israel's unsteady and contentious pluralities. Some of the interactions between members of different (and differing) groups would be funny except there's little to laugh at here.

Director Eilan Gorlin pulls off the difficult task of involving the viewer not just with travelogue quality shots of Jerusalem (obligatory Wailing Wall scenes, of course) but by injecting a particular thought that the watcher can't escape. Are all these people what they seem to be? Or is each, perhaps excepting the horny deserter from Talmud studies, a husbander of secrets, some very dark?

This movie was made several years ago and had a very limited circulation. The bar in the film was actually the scene of a recent terrorist attack according to a theater-lobby posted story. I don't know how widely it will be available in this re-release.

"The Holy Land" (and I wondered if sarcasm underlay the title) is disturbing and engrossing. New and improved peace plans can be floated weekly but this film conveys, without overt preaching of political views, the maelstrom that is Israel today.

An important film.

8/10.

The story is about a Jewish boy growing up in an orthodox Jewish family. Like many such environments he is told all the answers of life and religion and is not allowed to explore them for himself. Feeling sexually repressed he is told to go to a brothel by his rabbi to get it out of his system. There he meets and falls in love with a Russian prostitute "Sasha". Throughout the movie he meets many original but believable characters including an M16 touting American Jew that calls himself the "exterminator". Mike an American photojournalist that runs a bar called Mikes Place in Jerusalem. In Mikes place Arabs and Jews drink side by side in a late 60's early 70's hippie kind of atmosphere.

This movie is bazaar but is also believable with it's rich environments around Israel. It shows a realistic version of Israel depicting the Jerusalem night life and life in general. Some religious tension does exist in the film but is not the main focus that Americans often see in CNN and other Hollywood movies.

The movie is about growing up, about religion and the questions we all ask about god, about finding answer's for ourselves, about falling in love, about innocence, about making a life for yourself. The Holy Land takes a deep look into the human experience like none I have ever seen before but does it in a realistic way that doesn't drag you down and depresses you when you are done watching it. By the end of the movie you are thoughtful, a little sad but feel like you just experienced something special.

I watched "Holy Land" (first time, on DVD). Enjoyed it. Watched "Leaving Las Vegas" couple of days later (first time, on DVD). And realized there is something in common. To avoid spoilers I will not specify similarities, but invite you to take a look and think for yourself whether you agree or disagree with me.

I liked "Holy Land" (8/10). Pace is generally good. It is slow in comparison with action, but, well, it is not action. Director is not insulting intelligence of viewers by explaining things too much, and I believe there are certain things (like true feelings of Sasha, for example) that you can only guess. Story grows like a tree, not telephone pole, with many branches going nowhere, adding credibility (Hints of Mike's life and current business, for example).

Finally, I want to notice, that movie set in Israel.

i almost missed this gem of a movie. a number of critics have damned it with faint praise. fortunately, a lawyer friend of mine, Mike, had no particular interest in anything else currently showing. so, he agreed to see it with me, because it would count as "my pick" -- meaning that he would have the next pick.

"The Holy land" is a coming of age story. but the protagonist, Mendy, is not just any run-of-the-mill naif. he is a rabbinical student in Tel Aviv, and the scion of a line of ultra-orthodox rabbis. his family is wonderfully wholesome, while Mendy is unbearably horny. the head rabbi at his yeshiva, noting Mendy's inability to concentrate on his studies, cites a passage in the Talmud (while denying that he is advising it) that states that a young man who visits a professional female companion will come away more focused on his religious studies.

Mendy does not need to have his arm twisted. soon he finds a strip joint, goes in, meets the charming and beautiful Sasha, and falls in love with her. through Sasha he meets Mike, a larger than life character who owns a bar in Jerusalem where stock Arab and Jewish characters seamlessly mix in a sort of bizarre version of "Cheers".

it is a timeless story about the conflict in the soul of every young adult (who has a pulse) between the idealistic pull from above to transcend our human nature, and the tug from below to experience the pleasures of the flesh precisely at that point in life when we are most able to enjoy them. having been raised as an ultra-orthodox Jew, Mendy has grown up in a culture second to none in its seriousness about avoiding the distractions of the secular world. yet, as an intelligent and sensitive young man, Mendy can't help but be elated by seeing the maps in an atlas, to give just one example of how sheltered his life had been before then.

Oren Rehany deserves an Oscar for his performance as Mendy. he wordlessly conveys more emotion with the expressions on his face than most actors can deliver in a full blown soliloquy. Tchelet Semel, as Sasha, is not just "the girl". she's a fully developed character, with youth, beauty, and a mother back in Russia who needs money to pay for heat in the winter.

and, all of this takes place against the backdrop of Jerusalem -- site of the world's longest running battle for the soul of man. so, what's the catch? the catch is that you can't dramatize the conflict between the sacred and the profane if you leave out the profane. and, if you love Israel, you may feel uncomfortable with a film that spends so much time on the dark side of life there, especially the IDF's routine treatment of Palestinians. (who wouldn't be uncomfortable seeing the warts of one's beloved displayed on the big screen?) but, if you can get beyond that, this movie is well worth seeing.

oh, Mike was very grateful that i picked this movie ;-)