Le voyage de James à Jérusalem

In the allegorical "James' Journey to Jerusalem," a deeply religious young man, filled with idealism and hope, leaves his village in Africa to embark on a pilgrimage to the Holy City. There he hopes to glean some spiritual inspiration before returning home to start life as a pastor. However, things do not quite work out for James the way he envisions them. Immediately upon his arrival in Israel and before he can even make it to the famed city, he is unjustly thrown into jail, then "sold" into a kind of paid slavery to the business man who ponies up his bail. James is forced to live in a kind of community barracks with other young men in his situation and is sent around town to do cleaning, gardening and an assortment of other odd jobs. As James toils at his labors and interacts with both his "superiors" and peers, he learns a great deal about life in a land where the weak are taken advantage of by the strong and where friendly words and acts of seeming kindness are doled out with an air of class-conscious racism and condescension.

This is a fascinating film in many ways, for it introduces us to a milieu filled with unfamiliar situations and faces. James is, obviously, a sincere and devout individual whose innocence and naiveté endear us to him, even when it is those very qualities that make it difficult for him to exist and function in a world far more crassly commercial and uncaringly cynical than the one he expects to find. Yet, at the same time, James has a strength of spirit and a resourcefulness that allow him to triumph, even if only temporarily, over the adversities that befall him. However, even the saintly James, who keeps a firm grasp on his principles early on, eventually learns that one sometimes has to violate a moral code or two to get ahead in life. In many ways, this is like a modern "Pilgrim's Progress" or "Young Goodman Brown," with the noble protagonist leaving the safety and familiarity of his home to venture forth into a world filled with evils and temptations - but always with the hope of reaching that famed "City on a Hill" at the end.

However, there is one rather disturbing aspect to the film, and that is that, almost without exception, all the Israelis whom James encounters are greedy, grasping exploiters who see James and all of his compatriots as little more than chattel to do their work for them, talking down to and taking advantage of them every chance they get. Even his boss' elderly father, with whom James establishes a certain precarious "friendship," is really just a bitter, angry racist, hardly deserving of James' loyalty and trust. But to be fair, it isn't just the Jewish Israelis - even the black minister of the church that James attends ends up exploiting him. Since the film originates from Israel, it would be a bit difficult to accuse it of being anti-Semitic, and perhaps this film is that country's attempt to come to terms with a decidedly negative aspect of the nation's people and character - equivalent to the many Hollywood films made about racism, discrimination and exploitation in the United States of America.

Whatever the motivation, "James' Journey to Jerusalem" is a moving film about xenophobia, the class struggle and the fragility of hopes and dreams. The ironic final image brings that last theme home in a heartbreaking way. For James does finally reach his destination, but not quite in the way he intended.

This is just a gem of a little film, the story of a young man who is the pride of his village, sent to Jerusalem to seek wisdom. Boy does he get it! It is a thoroughly modern film, one that documents the plight of the country boy to the city in our warped modern world. As opposed to all the horrible sex and violence films of today, this just tells a great story of our times. While a dark tale, it never falls into depression, and instead James' wonderful point of view and the filmmaker's light touch really makes the story come alive. It is well cast, competently shot, a very strong screenplay, unusual for us in North America as it shows the reality of today's Israel through the eyes of a young African Christian, without becoming religiously preachy. Highly recommended and I would also recommend this for teens.

I really liked this film because it exposed something we Israelis don't like to bring out into the light: the negative consequences of not being a fryer. I think that in Israel, people are just so focused on not being taken advantage of that they often don't think about how they themselves pimp others. I also found it fascinating how James listened to Mr. Salah's bad advice and Mr. Salah listened to James' bad advice, (which led to unhappiness for both) out of trust in one another. It was really interesting that no Israeli/Palestinian politics entered the arena--it's impossible to live life in Israel without being highly sensitive to the political situation, and as such most Israeli films touch upon it in some way or another. I liked how this one didn't, though because I think that beyond Israeli/Palestinian issues, there are a lot of other problems Israeli society faces and often overlooks. Definitely a film with an important statement about being Israeli.

i am enjoying all the Israeli films on netflix. i too am catholic and used to live there (but white). Its a tad different because its filmed 4-5 years before I arrived, but still good.

Every time you see Israel via a film lens it appears different. This is evidence of the constant haze of politics and confusion that engulfs anyone there. You really have to look close to "see" things going on as they truly are.

I really enjoyed the actors and the authentic shots and linguistics. Its a great movie for anyone to learn from.

Most importantly, the film exposes much of the hard life that immigrants face in Israel. I recently looked on the website at obtaining a visa. I cannot tell you how many rules there are to prevent these abuses from happening. The fact the rules are there and so specific is evidence that immigrants were abused in the past.

I mostly had assumed this was immigrants from Asia (as they are commonly seen in Tel Aviv) but this movie opened my eyes to the widespread abuse of these people via extortion. It reminded me very much of people smugglers and the Mexican 'coyotes' preying on people's desires and dreams to live elsewhere.

A very good movie. Not depressing at all (as I was told). Its heartwarming and educational.

This movie is one of the best Israeli movies I have yet to see. It is a simple story with some good actors, and it shows the "values" of Israeli people. The main characters were acted well, yet the rest were pretty the same like most Israeli films, not professional. Camera work is plain and quality is not film, but still a good job done there. Another milestone in Israeli cinema.