Gave me a better understanding of what it's like to live in modern Israel.
The Holy Land (2003)
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Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 28
Rotten:25
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Consensus: This messy coming-of-age tale is of interest only because of where the story takes place.
Theatrical Release:Jul 11, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: Mendy (Oren Rehany) is a young man living in Bnei Brak, Israel, struggling to keep his mind focused on rabbinical school. His family is supportive of him, and they realize that adolescence involves... Mendy (Oren Rehany) is a young man living in Bnei Brak, Israel, struggling to keep his mind focused on rabbinical school. His family is supportive of him, and they realize that adolescence involves soul-searching and discontent. But his teacher sees that deep down Mendy is full of lust, and he tells Mendy to rid himself of these desires by visiting a prostitute in Tel Aviv. At a whorehouse called The Love Boat, Mendy falls head over heels in love with a Russian harlot named Sasha (Tchelet Semel)--a baby-faced rebel who secretly longs for an escape from her difficult life. Next Mendy meets Sasha's boyfriend, Mike (Saul Stein)--a gruff American who runs his own bar, a den where drunken Arabs and Jews mix merrily. Soon Mendy is working at the bar, living with Mike, and courting Sasha. Little does he know, a dark political and criminal current runs through Mike's Bar, and just behind it follows big trouble. Meanwhile, Mendy is asking himself important questions about God and life, but he's not finding any answers. Director Eitan Gorlin has crafted a multidimensional film with THE HOLY LAND. Under its coming-of-age veneer lies a darker story about sin, religion, faith, loyalty, and the fear of terrorism. Serene moments overlooking the prayer wall and the city of Jerusalem are contrasted with perturbing sexual sequences in the Love Boat. As Mendy, Rehany doesn't miss a beat, while it is Stein in the role of Mike who steals the show as the unpredictable father figure who is at times nurturing and at other times just plain scary. [More]
Starring: Saul Stein, Tchelet Semel, Albert Illuz, Arie Moskuna
Starring: Saul Stein, Tchelet Semel, Albert Illuz, Arie Moskuna, Oren Rehany
Director: Eitan Gorlin
Director: Eitan Gorlin
Screenwriter: Eitan Gorlin
Producer: Udi Yerushalmi, Ran Bogin
Studio: Cavu Releasing
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Reviews for The Holy Land
The Holy Land espouses love and sex and in the wrong, or right places, and doesn't flinch, even if the story wanders off into an occasional dramatic desert.
The flat dialogue and cardboard characters often undercut any social points that Gorlin seems on the verge of scoring.
Casts intriguing characters in interesting situations but leaves them adrift in a disjointed narrative that gives away its conclusion too early.
Too many characters, each too quickly drawn, hobble the film's momentum.
Gorlin's vignettes work only in fits and starts, and his plodding pace makes 96 minutes seem like so many hours.
putting a human face on the same tribulations that many face in Jerusalem
Gorlin's main agenda is to show that young Mendy hasn't at all found the respite from Judaism he perceives, but there's just as much torque to the relationship between this naïf and his hooker of choice.
[Gorlin] tries to bring in too many elements without laying the groundwork for them or placing them in context.
The screenplay doesn't have enough force to take us anywhere particularly interesting.
Gorlin supposedly based this material on some of his own experiences in Israel, but it still seems overly familiar.
Director-writer Eitan Gorlin provides flashes of the dire straits of Jerusalem life ... but fails in the end to bring them together into a relatable or sympathetic story.
Fails to capture the anguish and struggles of an ultra-Orthodox Jew adapting to a more secular world.
The movie flounders in a way that calls too much attention to itself -- and is hurt by jarring and unbelievable plot twists.
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