Ushpizin (The Guests) (2004)

When you really need a miracle...

Directed by: Gidi Dar
Written by: Shuli Rand
Produced by: Gidi Dar and Rafi Bukai
Starring: Shuli Rand as Moshe, Michal Batsheva Rand as Malli, Shaul Mizrahi as Eliyahu Scorpio, and Ilan Ganani as Yossef
Music by: Adi Ran

This foreign film was nominated for three Israeli Film Academy Awards - their version of the Oscars - including Best Picture. The film is Israeli in origin, and the actors are all Jewish. The story follows Moshe and Malli Bellanga during the week of Sukkoth - a holiday where Jews construct a house made of wood and palms to live in and they pray while offering the four species: a date palm branch, a willow branch, a myrtle bough, and a citron (lemon). Moshe and Malli are broke when Moshe is denied a stipend they were depending on. They have no money to buy the things required to celebrate Sukkoth, much less survive. They both begin to pray for a miracle, including for a son. And when God begins to bless them, He also sends two visitors from Moshe's shady past which will come to seem more like trials than blessings.

I added this film to my netflix list on a whim after watching the preview. I somewhat expected a comedy - but this film is more a drama than anything else. This is not to say there aren't some very funny parts. The story itself flows evenly from despairing to joyous, painfully embarrassing to triumphant. The plot is even, and while sometimes I didn't know what was going on since I am not Jewish nor do I speak Hebrew, that didn't keep me from being encouraged by this tale of blessing and trial, faith and reward.

The acting is incredible - Shuli Rand and his real life wife Michal bring a spark to the screen together as a leading couple to be reckoned with. Moshe's friend Ben Baruch contributes a lightheartedness and the rebbe brings wisdom. There isn't just one lesson here to be learned from these characters, there are many.

Another stellar part of this film is the soundtrack. Hasidic musical artist Adi Ran's music is integrated to perfection in times of praise and trial. They bring another aspect of Hasidic life into focus for us outside of the Yeshiva. "Ushpizin" brings a wonderful chance to see a couple's prayers answered in ways only God could contrive of and the opportunity to observe an entirely different culture from the one we have here in the U.S. I highly recommend this film and award it a five diamond citrons out of a possible five (5/5).