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Little Jerusalem
Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    88
    Beautifully played by Valette and Zylberstein, and directed with amazing grace by Albou, this touching film offers a respectful, fascinating look at a community that's ignored as often as it's misunderstood.
  2. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    83
    The sensuality is never salacious, merely curious, and the message is empowering ... at least within the confines of the insular community.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    80
    Philosophy and religion become entangled with love and sex in Karin Albou's intelligent, sensual drama.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    The film, both light-hearted and serious, suggests that freedom comes more easily within restrictions--and that's true of Albou's approach as well.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    Albou's chosen a touchy subject, which she treats sensitively. Her mature script is complemented by heartfelt turns by Fanny Valette as Laura and Elsa Zylberstein as Mathilde.
  6. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    70
    Absorbing tale of coming of age in a multi-ethnic Paris suburb.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    60
    Stylish and well-observed while ultimately not adding up to very much.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Nathan Lee
    60
    For the first full hour, as we're guided inside privacies of culture and consciousness, Ms. Albou sustains her rich and gently intoxicating mode of storytelling, a feat all the more admirable in light of the overly schematic script.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: Lisa Nesselson
    60
    In what is arguably her best performance since "Van Gogh," Zylberstein brings Mathilde to life with grace and fervor.
  10. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    50
    Understandably, a script so obsessed with the dark doings of plot has little time left over for the study of character, and, thus, we never really get to know these people.
  11. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    50
    It would be hard to imagine a filmmaking style as serious yet lazy as the earnest vérité bobbing and weaving employed by La Petite Jérusalem.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Rachel Aviv
    50
    The film strains under the influence of too many philosophy texts.
  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    50
    Writer-director Karin Albou nicely balances intellect against spirituality but is defeated by the sex scenes, which are tinged with an Orientalist exoticism; the result is a bodice-ripper for the art-house crowd.
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User Reviews

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User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. ChadS.
    6
    "La Petit Jerusalem" is about the most unlikely Parisians, an Orthodox Jewish family, whose youngest daughter(Laura, played by Fanny Valette) rejects her religion for philosophy(Kant, mostly) as a means to better assimilate within her French surroundings. She walks a lot and looks good riding in a subway car. As a sly gesture, when Laura is by herself, the film itself looks more French than when she's surrounded by family. When Laura gives up her academic pursuits, she stops walking, and "La Petit Jerusalem" stops looking new wavish, and more like a product of the middle east. This almost-successful film is somewhat hampered by a secondary narrative, in which the older sister(Mathilde, played by Elsa Zylberstein) tries to get her freak on to save her marriage(a philandering husband with a taste for blondes). The advice she receives from a religious adviser is imparted in very dull(some will argue, mature) fashion that brings this occasionally invigorating film to a screeching halt. Then we have to watch Mathilde apply her newly-found sexual liberation in a love scene that is fairly suggestive, but highly unerotic, because, well, it's married sex and they're kind of old.… Full Review »
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