Its video incarnation eventually destined to become a stocking stuffer for those on Madonna\u2019s Christmas gift list, the Israeli feature Hamesima X is a loopy sci-fi exercise that uses the teachings of the Kabbalah as a springboard for a metaphysical thriller. While its blending of philosophy and B-movie conventions will produce more bemused chuckles than converts, the film certainly earns points for sheer audacity.<\/p>\n
The story is set almost entirely within the confines of the headquarters of Israel\u2019s spy agency, the Mossad, where a hard-boiled agent (Shalom Sharon Raginiano) has been given the assignment of interrogating a mysterious figure who has breached its security.<\/p>\n
The placid, smiling interloper (co-director\/screenwriter Yuval Ovadia) announces that he is an alien sent by angels from a spiritual realm to help the skeptical agent through his myriad personal troubles, including an impending divorce and the recent death of his father, who left a mysterious will.<\/p>\n
Displaying extensive personal knowledge of his interrogator\u2019s personal life, the visitor delivers Kabbalah-inspired life lessons augmented by cheesy animated interludes and archival footage of the Holocaust, among other world events. Along the way, he also has psychic run-ins with a demonic tramp and a kung-fu fighting ninja.<\/p>\n
The mystical scenario is presented in a ponderous, straight-laced fashion that would make Scientologists blush. Devoid of the humor that might have made the ludicrous proceedings more palatable, Hamesima X merely comes across as a unique curiosity that might inspire playful audience reactions at midnight screenings in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
Opened: Friday, April 26 (Real Vision Productions)
\nCast: Shalom Sharon Raginiano, Yuval Ovadia, Danny Shteg, Rafi Taylor, Eli Ivgi
\nDirectors\/screenwriters: Yuval Ovadia, Or Yashar, Prosper Malka
\nProducer\/editor: Yuval Ovadia
\nDirector of photography: Or Yashar
\nCostume designer: Ofer Shachar
\nComposer: David D\u2019aur
\nNot rated, 88 min.