{"id":41295,"date":"2019-01-12T11:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home\/review-wrestling-jerusalem-admirably-finds-middle-ground-in-the-middle-east\/"},"modified":"2019-01-12T11:10:45","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T20:10:45","slug":"review-wrestling-jerusalem-admirably-finds-middle-ground-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home\/review-wrestling-jerusalem-admirably-finds-middle-ground-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: ‘Wrestling Jerusalem’ admirably finds middle ground in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"
There’s a scene in the middle of “Wrestling Jerusalem” in which a character is advised to “look over your notes from Poli Sci 101.”<\/p>\n
That’s sound advice for anyone interested in seeing the film adapted from a one-man show written and performed by Aaron Davidman, which will be screened Saturday at 4 p.m. and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Gold Town Theater as part of a Jewish Film Festival.<\/a><\/p>\n In “Wrestling Jerusalem,” Davidman, who was on hand for a Q&A session after Thursday’s screening and will be again on Tuesday, portrays 17 different characters with separate stances on the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Saturday’s screening will also end with a discussion featuring Rabbi Jeff Dreifus and Saralyn Tabachnick.<\/p>\n [Local synagogue to honor Pittsburgh victims<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n “Wrestling Jerusalem” was previously performed as stage show in Juneau, but Thursday marked the first time the movie had been shown in the capital city.<\/p>\n The film has innate drama given its subject matter, and Davidman gives a compulsively watchable performance as more than a dozen people, but to get the most out of the movie it helps to at least have memories from a world history or political science class. A fascination with Israel will go a long way, too.<\/p>\n There are multiple scenes that play out like an Israel-Palestine-focused version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” with a frenzied list of leaders, wars, nations and circumstances that have led to bloodshed and occupation for decades.<\/p>\n That’s not to say people who don’t know the principal players in the Six-Day War should absolutely stay away. Anyone interested in considering the personal side of an issue often talked about in distant abstractions could find something to like.<\/p>\n The movie contains enough human stories and moments of levity to offer something for people with no interest in Middle Eastern conflicts, but “Wrestling Jerusalem” will almost certainly be best enjoyed by folks with some familiarity with the subject matter.<\/p>\n