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The Holy Land (2001)
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Overview
Plot:
A coming-of-age saga set against the tense backdrop of Arab-Israeli politics. Mendy is a young Rabbinical... more | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination moreUser Comments:
Awful moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Oren Rehany | ... | Mendy |
 | Tchelet Semel | ... | Natasha "Sasha" Sonsova |
| Saul Stein | ... | Mike |
| Albert Iluz | ... | Razi |
| Aryeh Moskona | ... | The Exterminator (as Ariel Moskuna) |
| Alon Dahan | ... | Reb Nocham (Mendy's Rabbi) |
| Mosko Alkalai | ... | Professor Milan (as Moscu Alcalay) |
| Liat Bein | ... | Mendy's Mother |
| Yehoyachin Friedlander | ... | Mendy's Father |
| Lanny Shahaf | ... | Exterminator's Wife |
| Lupo Berkowitch | ... | Daryl (as Lupo Berkowitz) |
| Arie Hassfari | ... | Jamal (schoolboy) |
| Harel Noff | ... | Hobo Priest |
| Icho Avital | ... | Bar Patron |
| Louise Asher | ... | Screaming Lady |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug use.Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
USA:102 minCountry:
IsraelColor:
ColorFilming Locations:
Jerusalem, IsraelMOVIEmeter: 
8% since last week
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If you're not Jewish or have not been to Israel and you're looking for a film that will give you a flavor of either, skip this one entirely. Not only is it full of clichés and stereotypes, but it's simply incoherent. And not in a good way.
Why does this film have distribution at all? It has a juicy one-liner which makes it easy to advertise: "Orthodox yeshiva boy falls for Russian prostitute..." And because there's a whiff of controversy and some T&A, I'm sure some festival judges and distributors were taken in. Don't you be.
The writer-director has nothing to say except that Israel can be a crazy place, and no technique with which to say it. The acting is mostly horrendous. The woman who plays the prostitute is interesting, but since there's hardly any character development or narrative arc she's treading water most of the time. The rest of the cast is unbearably amateurish. Not a single element of the setting is believable--not the Jewish home, the Yeshiva setting, or the Jerusalem bar. It's all low, low budget (though that's never an excuse not to have vitality) and hermetically sealed from the real world. I could list the inconsistencies and improbabilities, but why bother? What an enervated mess.