User Score
0 votes
"Days of Our Lives" meets Gershom Scholem BEAUTIFUL JEW - reflects on the infamous 17th Century Jewish Messiah Sabbatai Zevi, his apostasy to Islam and his incarnation as a used car salesman. The film was shot in Jerusalem, Nablus, Palestine, and in Alberta. Made prior September 11, the film is a kind of mutant Prairie baroque tale genetically engineered with a neo-Fassbinder sensibility and theatricality.
Director
Writer
Status
Released
Original Language
EN

When Leah's husband Benjamin dies suddenly, Benjamin's brother Jake is stunned to learn he is expected to marry the childless Leah to carry on his brother's name. Jake suggests to Leah that they get married and maintain a secretly platonic relationship. The harder they try to disguise their "pretend" marriage, the more their appreciation for each other's worlds grow, and out of understanding, a real love develops.

An American-born Jewish adolescent, Hannah Stern, is uninterested in the culture, faith and customs of her relatives. However, she begins to revaluate her heritage when she has a supernatural experience that transports her back to a Nazi death camp in 1941. There she meets a young girl named Rivkah, a fellow captive in the camp. As Rivkah and Hannah struggle to survive in the face of daily atrocities, they form an unbreakable bond.