O Jerusalem (2006)

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 the United Nations General Assembly vote on partition, a vote is heard from Myanmar. This name was used only since 1989 by the military government; Burma is still the name recognized by the U.S. and most of the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le voyage du ballon rouge (2007)

Soundtrack:

Novi San Novi Dan

One hard subject, one beautiful movie.

I thought I am not a good candidate to write a review about the movie (Being a Jew who was born in Israel) - Until I saw the other review here and I was shocked and sadden.

There are many "views" of what really happened in 1948. Each side holds its own view to events, as Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" wisely tells us about the subjectivity of truth and the uncertainty of factual accuracy.

The independence war is part of Israel's collective memory as it is to the Arab side. Of course anything that I will write will be influenced with that filtration - as well as the previous reviewer and possibly the reviewers to follow. We all "own" our subjective truth.

So Instead of replying to the previous reviewer with "my facts" to the events that took place in 1948 in order to contradict his claims, I will halt here and urge you to not to give up upon your believes but to hold them back and see the movie. You will not regret it.

Yes, I know the movie will not be enjoyable to or appreciated by everyone. If you are an Arab or Jew extremist you will probably leave the cinema in the middle of the movie - If you wish to see a one-sided, "the truth is here" movie I suggest you see a Michael Moore movie.

But if you wish to see a movie with a brilliant script that tries to touch the human triumph and tragedies of the 1948 war with a superb cast that will make you shed a tear – this movie for you.