O Jerusalem

2006 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / History

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 36% · 22 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 60% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 1010 1K

israel jerusalem male friendship 1940s interfaith

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Plot summary

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

Director

Élie Chouraqui Photo
Élie Chouraqui

Top cast

Matthew Marsh Photo
Matthew Marsh as Sir Gordon
Ian Holm Photo
Ian Holm as Ben Gurion
JJ Feild Photo
JJ Feild as Bobby Goldman
Tovah Feldshuh Photo
Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir
720p.WEB
934.05 MB
1280*532
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 41 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by d-shayne

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 The acting is TV-grade melodrama and the script is trite.As for the overview-historical content, the movie falls to illuminate the events the lead up to the conflict--and with the single exception of the depiction of Deir Yassin, makes it seem as though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."
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Reviewed by doncherry-37618 6 / 10

A fair attempt to adapt a complex book to cinema

O Jerusalem (the book) is a well-know non-fiction account of the events surrounding Israel's creation and the accompanying Arab-Jewish war. It tells the story from the viewpoint of numerous Jewish and Arab participants in the events.

A movie adaptation needs to cut things down to size, and this film creates two composite characters, one Arab and one Jewish, whose friendship pre-dates the political and military showdown of 1947-48. As events unfold around them, they are both forced to take sides. However, their paths still intersect and they cannot totally shake their bonds of friendship.

This simplification of a complex narrative cuts a lot of corners, and sometimes the sequence of events (e.g., UN partition plan, various battles) are unclear to viewers who do not know the history well. In addition, the dialogue can get corny at times.

However, for those interested in the history of modern Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict, this movie provide some useful (yet incomplete) historical context in a decent dramatic package.

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