Ushpizin offers an authentic look at the inside of the Orthodox Jewish world, exploring belief. All the actors and extras truly come from the Orthodox religious community, including Shalom Rand, an actor who was once huge in Israel until he became religious and vanished from the public eye. Even the locations are real - the movie takes place in some of the more distant neighborhoods of Jerusalem, a place where film crews had never been previously allowed to venture.
The story centers on Moshe and Mali, a poor and childless Orthodox couple who are unfortunately penniless on the night before the Jewish holy day known as Succoth. They pray for assistance from the Lord, and somehow, these prayers seem to be heard. Moshe and Mali are the beneficiaries of an unexpected charitable donation, but it doesn't come without a cost. Two escaped convicts - friends from Moshe's shady past in the secular world - show up on their doorstep, and Moshe and Mali believe that if they welcome the men into their home, God will bless them with a child.
Even though Moshe and Mali believe in their hearts that the convicts may be messengers, they soon realize that God works with his own plan. The convicts behave strangely to the point that it brings chaos to their gentle community, putting Moshe and Mali's faith to a strong test.
Ushpizin received critical acclaim upon its release in Israel, and was also a commercial success by their box office standards. It won the Critics Prize for Best Israeli Film, and also the Israeli Film Academy Award for Best Actor. Picturehouse, the new distribution arm from New Line Cinema and Home Box Office, will release the film as an art house feature, where it should receive some attention amongst the aficionados of foreign-language art. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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