“Every now and then say, ‘What the f**k.’ ‘What the f**k’ gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.” It was twenty years ago that a young man took his buddy’s advice, ordering up a prostitute while his parents were away and finding that, a week later, he himself would become a pimp. “What the f**k” can do some pretty bizarre things. This is what another young man discovers in a vastly different part of the world as curiosity and “What the f**k” blaze a trail to brand new experience for him as the seedy underbelly of Jerusalem is revealed to us.
Visibly distracted by his curiosity of the outside world and his overwhelming urge to m********e, rabbinical student Mendy is sent off by his teacher to visit a brothel in Tel Aviv so that he can take care of a little business, allowing him to get his mind back on his studies afterwards. But once Mendy sets out on his adventures through Jerusalem after dark, he’s hooked. He falls in love with a 19-year-old Russian prostitute, lands a bartending gig, and gets himself wrapped up in a smuggling operation. Oh my.
“The Holy Land” offers a unique coming of age story in the way that, while Mendy is learning the ropes of being an adult the hard way, we too are getting an eye opening look at a side of Jerusalem we rarely ever get to see. This film is truly fresh and exciting. For those of you looking for something new, you’d be wise to check this one out.
