O Jerusalem (2006)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Elie Chouraqui

Writers:

Elie Chouraqui (writer)
Didier Le Pêcheur (co-writer)

Release Date:

18 October 2006 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The historic struggle for Jerusalem and the birth of Israel.

Plot:

A tale of friendship between two men, one Jewish and the other Arab, as the state of Israel is being created. |

Plot Keywords:

Israel | War Of Independence | Jerusalem | 1940s | Palestine

Cast

JJ Feild	...	Bobby Goldman
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Saïd Chahine
Maria Papas	...	Hadassah
Patrick Bruel	...	David Levin
Ian Holm	...	Ben Gurion
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Golda Meir
Mel Raido	...	Jacob
Cécile Cassel	...	Jane
Mhairi Steenbock	...	Cathy
Tom Conti	...	Sir Cunningham
Shirel	...	Yaël
Peter Polycarpou	...	Abdel Khader
Daniel Lundh	...	Roni
Anatol Yusef	...	Major Tell
Jamie Harding	...	Amin Chahine

Also Known As:

Ô Jérusalem (France)
Beyond Friendship (USA) (working title)
O' Jerusalem (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for some war scenes.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

France | UK | Italy | Greece | Israel | USA

Language:

English | Arabic | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Castle Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

Les Films de l'Instant

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In one of the US scenes in the beginning of the film, a 1950's Hudson automobile drives by when this is supposed to be the late 1940's.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le voyage du ballon rouge (2007)

Soundtrack:

Coming Home to Stay

inaccurate and sanitized version of history and a lousy film

My major gripe is not the slant, the film was not a propaganda screed for either side, but it is so inaccurate as to be nearly worthless. First, any one who spent any time in Israel will note immediately that it was not filmed there, the scenes do not remotely resemble the real sites where the events of 1948 took place. Major facts are fumbled--e.g., the Jewish Quarter of the Old City fell long before the first cease-fire (from the movie, it is hard to tell exactly what happened). In another scene, right before the Partition vote travelers are shown on a modern-style glass bus from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem--going over a non-existent river--with Arabs and Jews on the same bus!

The acting is TV-grade melodrama and the script is trite.

As for the overview-historical content, the movie falls to illuminate the events the lead up to the conflict--and with the single exception of the depiction of Deir Yassin, makes it seem as though the war was fought between a handful of well-meaning nice guys. But the 1948 war was bloody and ugly, with many atrocities committed on both sides, but especially the Arab side that was trying to wipe out the Jewish community of Palestine (later Israel).

Finally, as already pointed out, this movie does horrible violence to LaPierre and Collins' fine book, one of the few truly even-handed non-fiction books written about the Arab-Israel conflict (In the trailer, even this was mangled as the book is called a "novel").

If any one wants to see a much better movie covering almost the exact same topic get "Cast a Giant Shadow."