Shuli Rand Movies
The insular world of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem comes to the screen (with their blessings) in this warm comedy drama. Moshe (Shuli Rand) was once a secular Jew, but he rediscovered his faith and became an ultra-Orthodox Jew, and with his wife, Mali (Michal Bat Sheva Rand), he struggles to support their family. With the harvest festival of Sukkot around the corner, Moshe is broke, and asks for help from a yeshiva charitable fund. Moshe is told the fund has been depleted, and he and Mali are left with no options but to pray for a miracle. To their surprise, the next day they're informed some money was found in the fund after all, and they are given 1,000 dollars; Moshe and Mali believe this is the miracle they asked for, and they joyously make plans to build a sukkah, a gazebo-like structure where Orthodox Jews entertain guests and serve their meals. Just as he completes the new sukkah, Moshe is surprised by the unexpected arrival of Eliahu (Shaul Mizrahi) and Yosef (Ilan Gannai), two old friends from his restless days before he embraced his current faith. Imagining the Lord has sent him guests as part of the miracle, Moshe takes in his old pals and tries to make peace with their rambunctious ways, but what he doesn't know is that the two are on the run from the law, having recently escaped from jail. Ushpizin was scripted by leading man Shuli Rand, who is in real life an ultra-Orthodox Jew and demanded a number of conditions before agreeing to participate in the making of the film (such as the producers agreeing to never show the picture on the Sabbath). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shuli Rand, Michal Bat Sheva Rand, (more)
- 1996
Haunting and deeply personal, this stylized film reflects director Amos Gitai's feelings and response to the 1995 assassination of Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin. Essentially a series of images shot from a moving vehicle in key Israeli and Polish cities, with a focus on the death place of Prime Minister Rabin, the film is narrated by several notable personalities reading passages from the writings of Josephus Flavius, a Jewish commander who lead the Israeli Jews in a desperate bid to keep the Romans out of their holy land in 73 A.D. The Hebrews lost and Josephus was allowed to live, provided he write a history of the devastating battle from the Roman viewpoint. Interspersed amongst the readings and the moving scenes are a few exquisitely sad songs. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In this Israeli fantasy, two brave orphans return to Israel to search for their parents and find each other instead. Eight-year old Anna and Jan, her older brother, have not seen their parents in many years as they were sent to Europe when the war broke out.They find themselves in a transit camp surrounded by other immigrants. Life there is difficult, but the children find support from the other immigrants there. Not all the people are nice though. Anna, who does not speak, and Jan must contend with minor gangsters who take young girls for prostitutes, and steal food. Anna is suddenly alone in the camp after Jan finds work at a kibbutz. She is too young to go. Now all she has left is her teddy bear. The films' ending is more upbeat as she and Jan literally fly away. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ania Bukstein, Michael Pelman, (more)
In general, one could say that Tel Aviv is where worldly Israelis go to play, and Jerusalem is where religious ones go to pray. In this tragic drama, the characters are all denizens of Tel Aviv's nightlife, and the action centers around an all-night bar owned by two women with difficult romantic relationships. The first owner is Dalia (Gila Almagor), who is the mistress of a film producer in ill health. The second owner is Leora (Irit Frank), whose policeman boyfriend Benny (Shuli Rand) can't stop tomcatting around. The bar is currently populated by the owners, some well-lubricated soldiers, Leora's boyfriend Frank, Riki (a mentally fragile woman who is "under doctor's orders" never to allow herself to be alone), a singer, some drug dealers, and the Arabs who work in the kitchen. Benny plays the hero at first by rescuing Riki (Avital Dicker) from the soldiers, but then he seduces her, with tragic results. More tragedy follows, as the crows of truth come home to roost. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gila Almagor, Shuli Rand, (more)
- 1992
Since his girlfriend needs a medicine which is available only to one man -- an American millionaire who is trying to take over one of Israel's two television channels -- it seems like a good idea to try and blackmail the fellow since it's clear that he's made some pretty questionable deals in the past. The blackmailer is himself a gangster and knows that the businessman has a past that he would not like revealed while he's negotiating such an important deal. He enlists his brother into the scheme, even though the sibling is lukewarm about the effort ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shuli Rand, Ronit Alkabetz, (more)
