Ushpizin
Studio: Picturehouse
Rated: PG
Website: http://www.ushpizin.com/
Release Date: 2005-11-25
Cast: Shuli Rand, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand, Shaul Mizrahi, Ilan Gannai, Avraham Abutbul
Director: Gidi Dar
Screenwriter: Shuli Rand
WorkNameSort: Ushpizin
Our Rating: 4.50
A rare glimpse into Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community, the morality drama Ushpizin sets forth the role of ritual in a strange and fascinating environment. As the harvest festival of Sukkot approaches, poor but pious Moshe (Shuli Rand, who also wrote the script) and his wife need “holy guests” to bless their home via shared worship. But the visitors the Lord sends are surly old friends of Moshe’s, who try the couple’s patience with awful behavior and endless demands. Unprecedented cooperation between director Gidi Dar and Jerusalem’s Hasidim has made the movie (a highlight of the recent Central Florida Jewish Film Festival) authentic in its every fascinating detail. Yet its best asset is its story, a tale of mounting complications that would be right at home in the Old Testament or on the classic American stage. Some viewers may be put off by the movie’s ultimately sunny outlook – after Dachau, arguing that any Jew’s faith can be rewarded in this world is a risky business. Then again, only a schlemiel looks a gift fable in the mouth.
This article appears in Nov 23-29, 2005.