La Petite Jerusalem (2005)

Freedom vs. law . . .

Director Karin Albou says she was only secondarily interested in her characters as Orthodox Jews, living in Paris. She was more concerned with the meaning of freedom - especially freedom for women in a highly regulated and constricted culture - and the rule of law. On the one hand we have the Talmudic law, which constrains one of the two sisters at the center of the film, who is married with four young children. Her husband, she learns has been unfaithful to her, we're given to understand, because of her unwillingness to partake in sexual pleasure she believes has not been granted to her as an observant Jew. The law, as it is explained to her, frees her to win back her husband's affections.

Her unmarried sister, a university philosophy student, understands from her reading of Kant that the law frees her from succumbing to disruptive passions, and she finds herself fighting the attraction that draws her to a co-worker, a secular Muslim. Meanwhile, the sisters' Moroccan mother attempts with spells, talismans, and introductions to eligible bachelors to marry her off. Freedom for the sisters' mother is being taken into the home of a man who can provide for her and protect her. The world outside the home is, she believes, dangerous, and she lives at the pleasure of her son-in-law, the man of the house. While she does not wish to leave Paris, she acquiesces without complaint as he announces that they will all emigrate to Israel.

Finally, the film is a meditation on the paradoxes that occur where freedom and law converge. Nicely filmed and edited, the story is elliptical and told in fragments that are sometimes left to the viewer to interpret. The pieces, much like the argument of the film, are not meant to fit neatly together. The DVD includes an interview with the director. August 2, 2008

A haunting portrait of Jewish sisters

Writer/director Karin Albou's LA PETITE JERUSALEM (2005, Israeli) is a lovely and priviledged glimpse into the world of Hasidic Jews living in a Paris suburb called "Little Jerusalem". Specifically, the movie is about two likeable and very different sisters. The younger, Laura (Fanny Vanettte), is orthodox, quiet, and into philosophy; she believes Kant's teachings matter more than the Talmud. Her older sister, Mathilde Elsa Zyberstein), is married with four children. She is much more free and liberal, but terrified that her husband Ariel (Bruno Todeschini) is seeing another woman. Actually, Ariel is sexually unfulfilled and having sex with another woman because he does not want to hurt Mathilde by asking her to do sexual things she is uncomfortable doing (like maybe oral sex or genital touching). Should she divorce him? What does the Talmud say about adultery?

Laura is so involved with her philosophy books that she doesn't know what to do when a Moslem journalist named Djamel falls for her. The two tentatively go to bed, but Laura is terrified of "touching" Djamel or doing anything sexually advanced. She confers with her mother and a rabbi on what is allowed sexually in the Orthodox Jewish faith. Complicating matters is that Djamel's parents silently loathe Laura as a strict Jew. They will not consider a marriage with Djamel unless Laura converts to the Muslim religion, which Laura seemingly and gratifyingly cannot bring herself to do.

I sense a breakup with Laura and Djamel at the end, which satisfies me because I care immensely about Laura's happiness and don't care much for grungy Djamel. As for Mathilde, she also confers with a rabbi about sex and discusses the issue with husband Ariel. She will learn to please him sexually so that he does not want to be with any other woman.

LA PETITE JERUSALEM ("Little Jerusalem") is a sensitive and poignant character study done with great sensitivity and honesty. Beautifully photographed on location in suburban Paris, the movie has wonderful performances and insightful writing. The film lets the audience into a world seldom seen by Americans, even American Jews. I am excited by what Karin Albou and her talented cast do next cinematically. The movie is in French and Hebrew, with English subtitles.

April 25, 2007

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

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. March 31, 2007

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