slugdub i am enjoying all the Israeli films on netflix. i too am catholic and used to live there (but white). Its a tad different because its filmed 4-5 years before I arrived, but still good.Every time you see Israel via a film lens it appears different. This is evidence of the constant haze of politics and confusion that engulfs anyone there. You really have to look close to "see" things going on as they truly are.I really enjoyed the actors and the authentic shots and linguistics. Its a great movie for anyone to learn from. Most importantly, the film exposes much of the hard life that immigrants face in Israel. I recently looked on the website at obtaining a visa. I cannot tell you how many rules there are to prevent these abuses from happening. The fact the rules are there and so specific is evidence that immigrants were abused in the past.I mostly had assumed this was immigrants from Asia (as they are commonly seen in Tel Aviv) but this movie opened my eyes to the widespread abuse of these people via extortion. It reminded me very much of people smugglers and the Mexican 'coyotes' preying on people's desires and dreams to live elsewhere.A very good movie. Not depressing at all (as I was told). Its heartwarming and educational.

net3431 A truly great movie. James is a Christian, on a pilgrimage for his village to the Holy Land. Who lives in the Holy Land? What do they worship? He soon finds out. As he says (twice) - the people in my village would never believe me if I told them about this place - they would get angry at me. An up-to-date view of the Holy Land with a timeless story. This movie is perfect, and could not have been made better. There are no preachy political lessons here - we are dropped into the middle of chaos along with James, and we learn as he does how to get along. We see nothing of Palestinians - only Israelis and guest workers. James is a Christian in the land of the Jews, and the Holy Land is not what he was expecting. The plot flows well and the ending is exciting and surprising, with plenty of ups and downs.

tropicaldiver2001 My test for any movie, American or foreign, is that early in the film I begin to care about the characters. I did begin very quickly to care about James, although he seems too-naive to be true. He is held up in accomplishing his goal of arriving in Jersusalem through various situations, but never seems to really take the time or make the effort to get there. After all, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are not that far apart. The movie is an interesting self-criticism of Israeli characteristics.Towards the end James starts to head towards some sort of modest business success in Israel, but the movie seems to stop abruptly. I was disappointed and got no emotional payoff. I wasn't expecting necessarily a happy ending but was unprepared to have it just sort of fizzle out.I can think of better endings, such as the father, Salah continuing to give business advice to James behind his son's back until James achieves real success, or James finally taking time off, arriving in Jersusalem and being disappointed in its commercialization.

Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) Viewing the trailer, it seems to be a simple benign tale of how a young man James sent on a pilgrimage with the mission to see Jerusalem. Hm, it's really a black comedy in parable form, laughing at possible vulnerable morality, social foibles, and almost political non-comments on economy, religion, community, people coping with living. Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe is James (our main hero). Arieh Elias is Sallah (the father of Shimi). Salim Dau is Shimi (the man who got James). Together these three lively talented actors, with a host of supporting characters, gave us 87 mins. of a film from Israel, in Hebrew, Zulu and English. Written and directed by Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, this tale is not unique in Israel, but can very well be any city in the world, where money exchange and transactions exist for the advancement of one's social and living status. It feels (at first) rather like Antoine de Saint Exupéry's "The Little Prince," James is discovering truth of things. Gradually it becomes more of an urban reality tale. It's not glamorous Hollywood fable like "Edward Scissorhands." Rather, it's a good-natured almost genuine in its sincere storytelling - James' innocence is as real as it gets. He wanted to be right, walk right, talk right, do the right thing. However, it seems the Lord has other ideas and plans in helping James to fulfill his mission of "Oh, Jerusalem". The dialog is practical, matter of fact, down to earth translations. In fact, the main story narration is in the form of a choir singing out (echoing) the storyline in a gospel song. Are the characters depicted being amoral? Is living such a chore and Shimi and wife and friends lacking in brightness of the heart? We laugh as we've seen and heard such things happening to others (oh no, not to us.) What a meaningful first debut feature. "James' Journey to Jerusalem" is a worthy and entertaining piece, may even rings true in its reflections of social insensitivity - living got to be more reassuring than that. The warmth that James felt towards Sallah, a grumpy and nostalgic (yet whimsical at times) old man, indicated his respect and recognition of a fellow living human being in spite of mutual weaknesses, and the handshake is reciprocal. Sadness and joy, the yin and yang, James cannot appreciate the view of Jerusalem more without what he's been through. Despite the ending situation, I felt James is much wiser and morally strengthened to continue living and abide by his heart. If you find this light, try Lars von Trier's "Dogville," which is substantively loaded with morality play and human foibles, and may even see the film in the light of how God sent his daughter (Nicole Kidman's Grace) to earth and the passion began, continued, and fulfilled. "Dogville" is not for everyone (NFE) for sure. "James' Journey to Jerusalem" aka Massa'ot James Be'eretz Hakodesh (2003), is ready for anyone with a gleeful heart!