La Petite Jerusalem

La Petite Jerusalem (2005) is a French film about life in an orthodox Jewish suburb of Paris. The story focuses on two sisters. One of them is a philosophy student who is trying to live as an intellectual by curbing her physical desires. Her older sister is a very devout wife and mother of three. Both end up in a crisis centered around the conflict between sex and orthodox law.

Elsa Zylberstein, as the older sister Mathilde, discovers that her husband has been cheating on her. He freely admits it, but claims he did it out of respect for her, so he could take care of desires that his wife had no interest in. Let's pause briefly here for a short culture lesson. Before marriage, after childbirth, and 7 days after the end of her period, an orthodox woman must submerse herself in a cleansing pool of water called a Mikveh, to purify herself for sexual relations with her husband. In fact, an orthodox community is required to build a Mikveh even before a synagogue. The Mikveh is probably the origin of Christian baptism. When Mathilde visits the Mikvah, the woman attendant, who is also an expert on religious law, informs her that she can actually touch her husband's privates, and give and receive pleasure in many different ways, as long as they lead up to intercourse.

The younger sister is not as fortunate. Fanny Valette, as the young Laura, begins to fall in love with an Arab she meets in her job of custodian in a school. Nothing in her family situation, or in the Arab's family situation, will even consider the two being together.

When the synagogue is burned, and Mathilde's husband is beaten while trying to coach a soccer game, he decides that the family will immigrate to Israel. Laura will stay behind.

While I usually like cross-cultural films, this one moved too slowly for my taste, presenting too much detail of both philosophy and religious law. The human side is no better. Both female leads seem cool and detached, so it's difficult to care about their problems.

This is a C-.

• Critics were lukewarm, with an average score of two and a half stars. (63 Metacritic)
• IMDb readers are somewhat more enthusiastic and score it a respectable 6.8.
• This is a Region 0 PAL, in combined French, Hebrew and Arabic, with burned-in English subtitles. DVD order info here, or click on the picture below.

 

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