The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

Among the best Israeli productions. The historical context is an excellent recount of Israeli history and its relationship among its communities. The storyline is a little confusing with its backlashes and jumping back and forwards and it feels too much like a soap opera, including all the ingredients of love, drama, action, and suspense.

Quite entertaining but for me far too soapy-ish, I definitely miss the subtlety, the more intelligent stuff.

I don't like the violent scenes in the series. It is apparently meant to make it exciting to satisfy those who need it, but this kind of tension is not for me.

I find the constant switching in time unfortunate.

You are then just engaged in a story and then the series switches back to a moment in the past (or in the future). I am less happy about the faded colours applied to the scenes in the earlier time period.

Over all, I liked it well enough to continue watching the series. I especially liked the personnages and the story of Luna and her father.

Let's get the possible negatives out of the way first: it's quite low budget - anyone hoping for expensive set-pieces or grand sweeping shots of historic Jerusalem will be disappointed (the show, in fact, makes good use of a quaint handmade model of the city for panoramic shots); the 'English' accents of the British are abysmal, and the English dubbed version should be avoided (due to incongruous American accents).

Now the positives. Despite following two parallel timelines and spanning decades the show is easy to follow. The characters are mostly, if not all, multi-dimensional and the story manages to be both surprising and shocking at times whilst also a decent 'comfort' watch.

Most of all, it is the sheer range of human emotions this series manages to encapsulate that is impressive. Love, lust, anger, betrayal, redemption, jealousy, revenge, the list goes on - all captured amidst authentic portrayals and believable development.

Billed as a 'melodrama' and occasionally feeling like the classiest soap opera - it is best seen as a visualised novel. The acting is decent, for the most part, but it is primarily the writing that shines through here.

This drama series got me hooked on the first episode! I couldn't help but binge 3-4 episodes a night. I love the actors, the story line is captivating and left me looking forward to watching what would happen next! I really do hope they air season 3 and don't leave us hanging the way they ended season 2. It's a beautiful historical drama with several love stories entwined set in a time of war and religious conflict. The actors are fantastic and I'm so rooting for Luana. I really hope there will be a season 3 and that we don't have to wait a whole year for it to air either! I'm considering rewatching it already.

I just finished watching Season 1, all 10 Episodes, on Netflix. This TV series is amazing.

In part, this series is great because of all of the great acting. It features a wonderful ensemble cast. The way the show is filmed is also key to its success.

It's a very complicated show and some degree of concentration and patience is needed to fully appreciate it. By going back and forth in time, it can be confusing but it really does make a lot of sense.

Exploration of family dynamics against the backdrop of critical historical events is the true beauty of this show.

Would recommend this to anyone who's up for something on the heavy side. There are some truly shocking moments. For those who just want a "guilty pleasure," this is not for you.