Jesus Is a Palestinian

Jezus is een Palestijn
Directed byLodewijk Crijns
Written byLodewijk Crijns
Produced byMartin Lagestee
StarringHans Teeuwen
Kim van Kooten
Dijn Blom
Peer Mascini
CinematographyMenno Westendorp
Edited byWouter Jansen
Music by
  • Jeroen Strijbos,
  • Rob van Rijswijk
Production
company
Lagestee Film B.V.
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • 25 March 1999 (1999-03-25)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryNetherlands
LanguageDutch

Jesus Is a Palestinian (Dutch: Jezus is een Palestijn) is a 1999 Dutch comedy film written and directed by Lodewijk Crijns. The film parodies on religious fanaticism and millennialism, which involves the topics of self mutilation, incest, and euthanasia,[1][2] is the director's first full-length movie.[3][4] It premiered at the 1999 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Plot

Natasha (Kim van Kooten) goes to Limburg to collect her brother Ramses (Hans Teeuwen), who has joined a sect, prying him from the cult so he can consent to cutting their father's life support. The cult's leader Pieter Bouwman frowns upon sexual activity and, to prevent sex from happening, they have put a kind of lock, self-applied by way of piercing on the male member's penises. Ramses slowly develops a mind of his own and falls in love with Natasha's roommate, Lonneke (Dijn Blom). Ramses finds out that his sister and the nursing home staff are essentially trying to kill his father (Peer Mascini), and ends up delivering his father to a crackpot zealous Palestinian who prophesies the return of Christ. In the meantime, the cult is also out to get Ramses back, but Ramses now is unwilling to return to mandatory celibacy.

Cast

Reception

According to NRC Handelsblad, the film was a flop.[5] The Volkskrant critic, in a sometimes positive review, summarized the movie as "occasionally funny, but mostly superficial."[6] David Rooney reviewed the movie for Variety and commented positively on "Crijns' spirited direction and the appealing cast."[7]

References

  1. ^ "Jezus is een Palestijn - Lodewijk Crijns". Cinema Paradiso. 1999-04-14. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  2. ^ Dijksterhuis, Edo (February 1999). "Lodewijk Crijns: Spirituele extase door middel van piercing". De Filmkrant (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  3. ^ Linssen, Dama (2001-02-07). "Bikkelhard verhaal teder verfilmd". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  4. ^ Beerekamp, Hans (1998-04-03). "De Baby en de Bakfiets". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  5. ^ Beerekamp, Hans (1999-11-22). "Een mager jaar voor speelfilms". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  6. ^ Ockhuysen, Ronals (1999-01-29). "Onstilbare honger naar citaten van Kim en Hans". Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  7. ^ Rooney, David (1999-02-15). "Rev. of Jesus is a Palestinian". Variety.