Ushpizin

Offering a rare insider's view of Israel's ultra-orthodox community, Giddi Dar's Ushpizin is a modest, good-natured comedy written by and starring Shuli Rand, an actor who turned his back on the secular life to become a Hasidic Jew. Rand plays Moshe, who lives with his loving wife Mali (actual spouse Michal Bat Sheva Rand) in an orthodox neighborhood. Penniless and sadly childless as well, the couple is unable to celebrate Succoth, a festival in which participants build a small shelter to live in, with hopes that—as a special blessing—they will have guests. Happily, Moshe and Mali receive a windfall donation from their yeshiva's charity fund, and guests do in fact appear—two of Moshe's buddies from his secular past, escaped convicts who grow so troublesome that the couple end up resorting to subterfuge in order to get the men to leave. Ushpizin is hardly a serious look at the orthodox lifestyle—in fact, it's as manipulative a feel-good piece as anything Hollywood produces, and once you strip away the cultural peculiarities, the characters are basically sitcom stereotypes—but the unusual milieu lends the picture an exotic feel that distinguishes it from more conventional fare. Ultimately, the film raises our cultural awareness a bit, while generating gentle smiles along the way. Recommended. (F. Swietek)