Simon Magus (1999)

Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community because he claims that the devil talks to him and he has the ability to put curses on crops. When Dovid asks the 'Squire' to sell him some land... See full summary »

Director:

Ben Hopkins

Writers:

Rob Cheek (story), Ben Hopkins

Stars:

Noah Taylor, Stuart Townsend, Sean McGinley

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Noah Taylor	...	Simon
Stuart Townsend	...	Dovid Bendel
Sean McGinley	...	Maximillian Hase
Embeth Davidtz	...	Leah
Amanda Ryan	...	Sarah
Rutger Hauer	...	Count Albrecht, the Squire
Ian Holm	...	Sirius / Boris / The Devil
Terence Rigby	...	Bratislav
Toby Jones	...	Buchholz
Jim Dunk	...	Saul
Ursula Jones	...	Rebecca
Cyril Shaps	...	Chaim
David de Keyser	...	Rabbi
Ken Dury	...	Priest
Tom Fisher	...	Thomas

Storyline

Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community because he claims that the devil talks to him and he has the ability to put curses on crops. When Dovid asks the 'Squire' to sell him some land so he can build a railway station, a ruthless businessman from the neighbouring gentile community uses Simon to find out who wants to buy the land so he can 'persuade' him otherwise.

---

Plot Keywords:

outcast | devil | jewish community | gentile | curse | 

---

Taglines:

A magical tale from a Vanished World.

---

Genres:

Mystery | Fantasy | Romance | Drama

---

Details

Country:

UK USA France Germany Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 2000 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A sátán mágusa

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,307 (USA) (9 March 2001)

Gross:

$38,214 (USA) (20 July 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Four, Lucky Red, ARP Sélection

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[Hase is watching Simon shoveling food into his mouth]
Maximillian Hase: No, don't go, Buchholz, stay and watch Simon eat. It's... interesting.

---

Soundtracks

"Piano Quintet In G Minor, Op 57: IV. Intermezzo: Lento"
Composed by Dmitri Shostakovich

User Reviews

Appreciation of quietness within oneself, of poetic expressions in love, of fate (and the inimitable being above) - a subtly formidable directorial debut from Ben Hopkins

SIMON MAGUS is about appreciation of poetry and words…about the impossible being magically possible…about the change of fate…about God having a hand in it all without humans knowing it before hand…about encountering love, courting love, the action of taking the time to give and willing to receive love. (There is no Hollywood syrupy love or sentimentality. It's more in a subliminal order of things.)

I especially like one of the camera approaches director Hopkins and cinematographer Nicholas Knowland used. When there are segments completely without dialogs, and the camera is just panning from face to face to face, quietly stops at scenes: in front of Sarah's window, outside of the Squire's house…the lens spending moments with each of the characters. It intimately lets us 'see' into their inner worlds…their struggles and delights. It is atmospheric (with subtle complementary score in the background).

The fate element somehow reminds me of ("Winter Sleepers" and "Run Lola Run") Tom Tykwer's stories/films, where fate is front and center. Here, Ben Hopkins (using a costumed drama setting of the late 19th Century vs. Tom's present day environment) has let fate weaves its way around this web of human feelings among the village inhabitants - our five central characters. Dovid (Stuart Townsend) the young dairy farmer courting widow Leah (Embeth Davidtz) the baker. Sarah (Amanda Ryan) the young woman, who recently returned to the village from the city, is scholarly literate and a match to Rutger Hauer the Squire, who values words and literature over materialistic ends. Of course, ("Flirting" and "Shine") Noah Taylor's Simon, who appears absolutely unpleasant, untidy, unclean and eccentric in every way, yet he, too, has a heart and core within (so we are reminded through the course of this fable that appearance is not everything). The folks around were unable to 'see' the Simon within - except for the priest, someone outside of the Jewish community, who patiently helps Simon to disentangle his soul and mind

• what a divine slate of hand opposite the Devil (portrayed briefly by Ian

Holm in a Rutger Hauer's Blind Samurai garb in wide-brimmed straw hat) and the villainous Maximillian (Sean McGinley as the greedy, scheming business man of wealth lost in immorality).

"Simon Magus" may not be for everyone (NFE). It just might need some patience and faith in the unfolding of the story - certainly not without suspense (when evil treachery lurks). As the Squire observed that people are so busy with business and means that appreciation of the affairs of the heart is compromised, take some time away from the flurries of things and sit back and open your heart to the wonderful ensemble cast and the talented production that realized Ben Hopkin's tale.

P.S. The railway issue briefly reminded me of Michael Winterbottom's "The Claim," and the mostly low-light cinematography reminded me of master Roger Deakins' photography in the Coen brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"