Himmo, King of Jerusalem explained

Himmo, King of Jerusalem
Native Name:
Director:Amos Guttman
Producer:Ehud Bleiberg
Enrique Rottenberg
Starring:Alona Kimhi
Amos Lavi
Editing:Ziva Postec
Cinematography:Jorge Gurvich
Music:Ilan Virtzberg
Runtime:84 minutes
Country:Israel
Language:Hebrew

Himmo, King of Jerusalem (Hebrew: חימו מלך ירושלים, tr. Himmo Melech Yerushalaim) is a 1987 Israeli independent underground dramatic art film directed by Amos Guttman.[1]

Plot

Adapted by Edna Mazia from an eponymous 1966 novel by Yoram Kaniuk,[2] the film, set in an abandoned monastery-turned-clinic (the film was shot at the Monastery of the Cross), unfolds during the siege of Jerusalem in 1948. A young and beautiful volunteer nurse, Hamutal Horowitz (Alona Kimhi), is romantically drawn to the enigmatic Himmo Perach (Ofer Shikartsi),[3] a mortally wounded and mutilated soldier and former charismatic philanderer who cannot speak (except when he asks to be shot, though nobody in the monastery has the courage to do so) or move as he had most of his limbs removed without anesthesia due to severe shortages. Jealousy amongst the other patients, all in love with Hamutal though receiving only professional care, soon begins to emerge.[4]

The film, financed by the and developed at, stars inter alia, Mika Rottenberg,,,, Amos Lavi, Dov Navon,, and Sivan Shavit and has cinematography by, production by Enrique Rottenberg,[5] and music by (in addition to the 1946 song , written by Haim Hefer and, performed by Shoshana Damari).

Cast

Reception

It was screened and won several prizes at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, and 1988 Chicago International Film Festival, despite being a commercial flop with only 21,000 tickets sold.[6]

Journalist Meir Schnitzer dismissed the film for its "lack of plot" and "visual ugliness",[7] and similar pontifications were voiced by other journalists such as, who dismissed its "pretentiousness" and called it a stain on the Israeli film "industry",[8] and, who called it “miserable, tiring, heavy, a boring and slow film in which nothing happens” and complained that it utilized "too much dialogue and too little action".[9]

Outside Israel, where the film was distributed by the National Center for Jewish Film, TV Guide also dismissed the "stagy, with a fair amount of speechmaking" approach.[10] The film was released on DVD in Israel by as part of a boxset containing the complete filmography of Guttman[11] and an equivalent boxset was released in France by .[12] Several nowadays notable Israeli film people, such as Rony Gruber, Samuel Maoz, Shva Salhoov, and started out as crew bit parts on this film.

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Avitzur. Shuli. he:עמוס גוטמן: במאי יוצר מצור(ים). Amos Guttman: Directing Under Siege. Summer 2007. http://journal.bezalel.ac.il/he/protocol/article/2779. he., Volume 5. Jerusalem. 23 August 2021. Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
  2. Book: 2004. he:פרידה משרוליק: שינוי ערכים באליטה הישראלית. Farewell to “Srulik:” Changing Values Among the Israeli Elite. II. 631. Haifa and Or Yehuda. he. University of Haifa's and Kinneret Zmora- . 9789653110519. 56795640.
  3. News: Ido. Amatzya. he:עופר שב משדה־הקרב. Ofer Returns From Battlefield. 7 October 1987. http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230378.pdf. he. Yedioth Ahronoth’s Kol Haifa. Rishon LeZion. 23 August 2021. Yedioth Ahronoth Group. 16. 1 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200601231110/http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230378.pdf. dead.
  4. Yosef, Raz. הפוליטיקה של הנורמלי: מין ואומה בקולנוע הומוסקסואלי ישראלי [The Politics of the Normal: Sex and Nation in Gay Israeli Cinema]. In: , Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Yafo: Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and –, Volume 30, Spring 2007, pp. 159–187 (in Hebrew), reprinted in: Prof. Dr., Dr. Amalia Ziv, and Raz Yosef Book: 2016. he:סקס אחר: מבחר מאמרים בלימודים להט״ביים וקוויריים ישראליים. Another Sex: Selected Essays in Israeli Queer and LGBT Studies. 93–126. Tel Aviv-Yafo. Hebrew. . 952528353. Fetish: Original Series of Cultural Critique, Series Editors: and Idan Zivoni.
  5. News: Shamgar. Irit. he:בורגני צמוד. A Tight Bourgeois. 12 June 1986. https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1986/06/12/01/article/282/?e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1. he. Maariv. Tel Aviv-Yafo. 23 August 2021. The Jerusalem Post.
  6. . Israeli Cinema. In: Book: Leaman. Oliver Harold Norbert. October 2001. Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film. London and New York, New York. Taylor & Francis and Routledge. 233, 277, and 334–335. 9781134662517. Oliver Leaman. 45466264.
  7. News: Schnitzer. Meir. he:איפה אל״ף? איפה בי״ת?. No ABCs. October 1987. http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230348.pdf. he. Hadashot. Tel Aviv-Yafo. 4 March 2018. . 23. 1 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200601231110/http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230348.pdf. dead.
  8. News: Orsher. Gidi. he:המלך הוא עירום. The King Is Naked. October 1987. http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230379.pdf. he. Haaretz. Tel Aviv-Yafo. 23 August 2021. M. DuMont Schauberg and Haaretz Group.
  9. News: Ingber. Nachman. he:יש עשן בלי אש. Smoke Without Fire. 16 October 1987. http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230378.pdf. he. Yedioth Ahronoth. Rishon LeZion. 23 August 2021. Yedioth Ahronoth Group. 1 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200601231110/http://idea.cinema.co.il/ideawebinter/multimedia_11/0223/02230378.pdf. dead.
  10. News: Himmo, King of Jerusalem. 1988. TV Guide. New York, New York and Troy, Michigan. 23 August 2021. CBS Corporation's CBS Interactive and NTVB Media.
  11. http://www.third-ear.com/Title/40961. Guttman, Amos. he:עמוס גוטמן: האוסף המלא. Amos Guttman: Complete Filmography. Tel Aviv-Yafo. Third Ear DVDs. he. DVD. 885305029. 1 June 2007. Reported in: . News: 10 June 2007. he:סיפור חייו בקופסא. His Life Story in a Boxset. https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3410789,00.html. he. Yedioth Ahronoth's Ynet. Rishon LeZion. 23 August 2021. Yedioth Ahronoth Group. יודילוביץ'. מרב. News: Weizmann. Daniel. 1 November 2012. he:דיוידנדים: עמוס גוטמן – מהארון אל המדף. Dividends: Amos Guttman – From the Closet to the Shelf. https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4299086,00.html. he. Yedioth Ahronoth's Ynet. Rishon LeZion. 23 August 2021. Yedioth Ahronoth Group. . News: he:חסד של אמת. A Truthful Grace. 3 July 2007. https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/general-articles/1.3389232. he. Haaretz. Tel Aviv-Yafo. 23 August 2021. M. DuMont Schauberg and Haaretz Group's . . News: he:עמוס גוטמן – מארז אסופת סרטיו. Amos Guttman – A Boxset of His Collected Films. 9 February 2007. http://www.e-mago.co.il/Editor/cinema-1849.htm. he. . 23 August 2021. Reprinted as: News: Lachman. Dan. he:רק על עצמו לספר ידע. He Only Knew How to Talk About Himself. 16 July 2007. http://www.gogay.co.il/item.php?id=2652. he. . 23 August 2021. 26 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210226092328/http://gogay.co.il/item.php?id=2652. dead.
  12. Amos Guttman: L’intégrale. Guttman, Amos. Paris. Bach Films. French, Hebrew. 23 August 2021. DVD. 21 March 2014. Amos Guttman: Complete Filmography.

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