Search - La Petite Jerusalem on DVD

"A Fantasy Of Fusion" ~ Concerning Thought, Belief, God And

Brian E. Erland | Brea, CA - USA | 03/31/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Note: French and Hebrew with English subtitles.



`La Petite Jerusalem' released in '05 is an intelligent, thoughtful and articulate exploration of the question "What is reason capable of." In the context of this film it appears to be capable of luring Laura (Fanny Valette), an educated free thinking philosophy student out of the protective confines of her Orthodox Jewish community and blantantly defying its traditions to pursue a romantic relationship with a Moslem co-worker. While most of the ensuing chaos that occurs over such a relationship is predictable, the ongoing philosophical/religious debate between Laura and her trusted confidant Mathilde (Elsa Zylberstein) are quite penetrating and insightful. Those sequences along with the subplot concerning Mathilde and her struggle to faithfully follow the teachings of the Torah while adequately fulfilling her husbands physical desires are my favorite moments in the film.



`La Petite Jerusalem' provides a fascinating peek into modern Jewish culture which makes it definitely worth a watch whether you're of the Jewish persuasion or not."

To See Paris -and make off.

Michael Kerjman | 07/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Nowadays story of conforming the traditional believes while following natural urges and lust unleashed on a screen explicitly during last decades of a sexual revolution, human rights achievements and HIV invasion, is filmed in a Jewish quarter of modern Paris (regrettably, I had found neither profoundly Jewish subway line nor a district in situ, also some areas were still really, visually, more predominantly Hasidim-inhabited), mitzvah counseling, anti-Semitism on rise, exodus from and a loyalty to a country one lives in.



Interference with "a boy from the Musk", an Algerian journalist illegally residing in France at mercy of traditional parents, adds a pepper to a story of ready-for-marriage philosophy student's sexual desires.



Although both contextually and visually modern Israeli topic-related movies are much more graphic, a viewer would have been attracted with a female charm of actresses performing.



This work is interesting for broadening knowledge of a contemporary French Jewry.

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