Educational Media Reviews Online

Liat Kaplan's parents, aged Holocaust survivors, face what appears to be their worst fears: their youngest daughter, at the tender age of twenty-nine has fallen in love with Hussam, a black Muslim refugee and plans to marry him. The film documents their reaction to this disaster and their attempts to dissuade Liat from making the worst mistake of their lives. When reason and emotional blackmail fail to work, they turn to magic. The film essentially is a documentary of their visits to a series of 'sorcerers'. The logic seems to be that a demon has taken possession of the senior Kaplans, and is cursing their lives with this potential son-in-law. The sorcerers use a range of techniques, from charmed water to numerology to exorcise this demon, and Liat and her film crew accompany them on their excursions. Along the way, we see some glimpses of contemporary Israel and are treated to lengthy diatribes from Mrs. Kaplan who at one point suggests that if her daughter really wants to ruin her life, she should just marry a Nazi.

The film is a hodge-podge of Mrs. Kaplan's tirades and attempts at exorcism, brief glimpses of Liat's romantic moments with Hussam, and some chatty moments with an unidentified woman, who might be Liat's sister, co-filmmaker or friend. The narrative is very sketchy and the film feels like a home movie of a particularly miserable episode in the Kaplans family history. The mother's diatribes are occasionally entertaining, and the father's feeble attempts to reason with her are surely seen in kitchens around the world. The purpose of this film is unclear. It does not describe the romance between these two very different people, it does not discuss the senior Kaplan's life experience, which might shed some light on their attitudes, it does not discuss the political situation or why Hussam has such difficulty in obtaining a visa, why he is a refugee, or how it is that all the sorcerers that the Kaplans visit and trust appear to be Muslim Arabs.

While the film is not very satisfying as a documentary or coherent as a narrative, it does provide a glimpse of modern Israeli life, and the culture clashes that occur. It could be used in classes dealing with rites and rituals, and possibly for course discussing everyday life and attitudes in other nations, but on the whole, it is difficult to imagine viewing this film without some accompanying material. The production values are low, and the sound quality is patchy. The viewer who is not familiar with the languages spoken in the Middle East must rely on the imperfectly translated subtitles. It would be an optional purchase for collections with a strong focus on Israel or the Middle East. Overall, this film is not recommended.