When we first meet the eponymous James (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe) of JAMES JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM, hes basking in the presence of that city. His bright face is aglow with a smile that can light up the farthest corners of the universe. That glow is reflected in the sun-drenched image of such familiar landmarks as The Dome of the Rock. The thing is, hes not actually looking at the city, but rather a travel poster of it that decorates the waiting room where he waits in detention shortly after arriving in Israel. Its a painfully apt metaphor. A farmer from a small African village, hes been chosen as the communitys next preacher and so has made this pilgrimage to the Holy Land on behalf of all those to whom he will one day minister.
Alas for James, the reality of the Holy Land, as he is shortly to find out, is nothing like what he read in the Good Book. A bored immigration agent munches a sandwich while telling the uncomprehending and still smiling pilgrim that she knows hes there to make money, not visit religious shrines. In a dingy cell he earnestly prays for deliverance and, in due course, deliverance of a sort arrives in the person of Shimi (Salim Dau). Hes a broker in illegal aliens who has a deal with one of the jail guards to let him take the pick of those about to be deported. James still doesnt quite understand whats happening to him, but all smiles, he cheerfully embarks on a life of manual labor that he doesnt realize will never quite repay the debt Shimi explains that James owes him, even though James tries to return his weekly wages to Shimi in an attempt to pay him off and continue on to Jersusalem.
Then something odd happens. Sent on a housecleaning job to Shimis father, Salah (Arieh Elias), James bonds the old man, one of the pioneering Israelis who founded the state. Theirs is a contentious relationship, but this odd couple bonds in ways that the real father and son never did. The older man even starts peppering James with advice on how to get ahead in Israels market-driven society, where everyone is either duped or a duper.
Writer/director Raanan Alexandrowicz paints a bittersweet portrait of modern Israel, and by extension, the modern world, as seen through a strangers eyes. Its a place where, as Saleh puts it, people prey on one another unlike James, who thinks of nothing but honest work and reading his bible, the way everyone in Israel used to be. In showing how someone so devout and so focused can be sidetracked by the material things he sees for the first time, there is a powerful parable. James keeps putting off his trip to Jerusalem, even when Shimi returns his passport to him and gives him an extra day off with pay to finally go. This sweet innocent, a veritable Candide, endures not the earthquake in Lisbon, but a profound realignment of priorities. From thinking wealth is the devils snare and being astonished that people would send their old people to live in institutions, he becomes as calculating as the best, or rather, worst of them.
Alexandrowicz never overplays the morality tale, instead taking the compassionate view of people living lives of discontent of their own making. He isnt afraid to be provocative in its telling, though. Everyone, from Shimi to the preacher at the church James attends comes in for a drubbing. There are farcical scenes, heartbreaking and farcical with James confusing those around him who want to lead him into the temptations of cheating and other sins with his absolute sincerity and incomprehension. His struggle to cling to the straight and narrow as he becomes the unwitting lynchpin of machinations that are out of his control are completely heartbreaking, as his choices dwindle and the struggle to do the right thing becomes akin to that of Sisyphus and his rock. As James, Shibe carries the film effortlessly, as effective as the wide-eyed newcomer as the businessman who has misplaced his soul. Even in his coldest moments, though, there is still the shadow, if sometimes only a trace, of that big-hearted boy savoring the experience of being in the Holy Land.
Ultimately, JAMES JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM ponders the question whether there is room in the real world for someone with an unsullied spiritual bent. James goal, after all, is an illusion, a place, that doesnt exist anymore and maybe never did. The songs that start and end the film, as well as the ones at the church were James worships at the beginning of his adventure, speak of another Jerusalem, the one in the bible. Its now nothing more than a symbol, having given way to terrorist bombings and other distinctly secular matters. But even if one cant visit the place that inspires songs of praise and James wonder, it can be carried in the heart, a much safer place, and one where the holy city can do everyone much more good in the long run.
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