James' Journey to Jerusalem (2003)

Synopsis: In this offbeat social satire, a Christian African tribe sends James (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe), the noblest young man of their village, on a spiritual sojourn to Jerusalem. Apparently unaware of the Middle East's political and economic situation, James is baffled when Israeli police at... In this offbeat social satire, a Christian African tribe sends James (Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe), the noblest young man of their village, on a spiritual sojourn to Jerusalem. Apparently unaware of the Middle East's political and economic situation, James is baffled when Israeli police at the airport mistake him for just another immigrant looking for work, and toss him in a detaining cell. His fervent prayers for salvation result in James' release into the care of Mr. Shimi (Salim Daw) an Israeli cleaning service owner who billets the young seeker at an overcrowded apartment and puts him to work as part of his migrant labor pool. At first James is horrified by his new life (he only wants to get to Jerusalem) but once he starts making money and shopping at the local mall, James starts to see the positive aspects of sinful capitalism. After getting some counsel from Shimi's old rascal of a father (Arie Elias), James learns to "play the game" and prosper financially behind Shimi's back, but in the process his divine glow grows tarnished and his trip to Jerusalem becomes permanently postponed. JAMES' JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM is a colorful, fast-moving little morality tale that zips from one sharply observed moment to another and benefits from a clever script that doesn't need to shout out its allegorical symbolism. The cast is uniformly natural and strong, especially Siyabonga Melongisi Shibe, who carries the film gracefully along as he moves from sweet-natured innocent to corrupted capitalist. [More]