Himmo, King Of Jerusalem

''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.

Plot

Adapted by from an eponymous 1966 novel by Yoram Kaniuk, 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), 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.

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

Cast

*Icho Avital as Yoram
*Shay Capon as Aaron
*Amiram Gabriel as Frangi
* Alona Kimhi as Hamital
* Amos Lavi as Marcos
*Dov Navon as Assa
*Aliza Rosen as Clara
*Sivan Shavit as Ivria
*Yossi Graber as doctor
*Ada Valerie-Tal
*Ofer Shikartsi
*Avi Gilor

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.

Journalist Meir Schnitzer dismissed the film for its "lack of plot" and "visual ugliness", and similar pontifications were voiced by other journalists such as , who dismissed its "pretentiousness" and called it a stain on the Israeli film "industry", 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".

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. The film was released on DVD in Israel by as part of a boxset containing the complete filmography of Guttman and an equivalent boxset was released in France by . Several nowadays notable Israeli film people, such as Rony Gruber, Samuel Maoz, Shva Salhoov, and started out as crew bit parts on this film.

References

Bibliography

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*''Himmo, King of Jerusalem''. In: Reprinted in:

External links

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{{Amos Guttman

1980s historical drama films
1987 independent films
Films about amputees
Films about military personnel
Films about the Israel Defense Forces
Films based on Israeli novels
Films directed by Amos Guttman
Films set in 1948
Films set in Jerusalem
Films set in religious buildings and structures
Films shot in Israel
Israeli historical drama films
Israeli independent films
Medical-themed films
Films set in monasteries
1987 drama films