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My Private Jerusalem

Documentary filmmaker _probes the holy city
in search of personal meaning.

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MICHAEL FOX

Special to the Jewish News

1 erusalem is the most elusive
place on earth, a dreamscape
of shifting layers, subjective
memories and ambiguous
meanings. So why should a film about
the enigmatic city be any different?
The holy city's ephemeral quality is
precisely what makes Ron Havilio's
unabashedly personal exploration,
Fragments: Jerusalem, alternately fascinat-
ing and frustratingly our of reach. An
epic labor of love, the 1996 film illumi-
nates numerous hidden crannies in the
course of its six hours while disdaining
an overview of the city or its inhabitants.
Havilio shot and edited Fragments:
Jerusalem over the course of a decade, and
the film represents his search for his roots.
The film consists of seven chapters,
with events folding back on each
other, echoing and repeating. The
structure may challenge viewers accus-
tomed to straight-ahead documen-
taries, but it beautifully evokes the
nonlinear nature of memory.
Havilio narrates the film (in English),
tracing the distant threads of his parents'
respective family trees. He uncovers
remarkable old photographs, absurd anec-
dotes and a nearly forgotten way of life.
A secular Israeli Jew who lived in
Paris for five important childhood
years, the filmmaker maintains a rela-
tionship with Jerusalem that is, in some
ways, that of an outsider. His shots of
the Western Wall, for example, suggest
those of a tourist who is uncomfortable
with the religious fervor on display.
Nonetheless, Havilio shows an appre-
ciation for the magic and the symbol-
ism, the faith and the violence that are
Jerusalem's legacy. As Gustave Flaubert
wrote during an 1850 visit, "Jerusalem
looks like a fortified graveyard. God's
curse seems to float above the city."
One of the film's recurring themes is
Havilio's attempt to link the past with
the present. Sometimes it's as straight-
forward as shuffling footage of the
city's 1920 and 1992 snowstorms.
At other times, his intent isn't so
clear. Even when he's on a particularly
compelling historical track — such as

Fleischman Residence Services:

11

Michael Fox is a San Francisco film

From Chapter 5: Golde Paritizki in
1914 with two of her brothers.

his paternal grandmother's marriage to
a much older man in the 1920s and
the side-by-side friendship between
Jewish and Arab shopkeepers of that
era — Havilio is drawn back to the
present, mixing in shots of his three
young daughters.
One consequence is that Fragments:
Jerusalem feels like an open-ended
meditation on a series of profound
Jewish questions: How do forgotten
ancestors shape our lives? Is the demo-
lition of buildings in the name of
progress a way of eradicating memory
and rewriting history? Have we pre-
pared the next generation adequately,
and what will be their fate?
Although the film revolves around the
particular circumstances of the filmmak-
er's ancestors, the viewer — especially
the Jewish viewer — gradually gets the
_sense that it's his or her own past that's
being excavated. That's a rare and mar-
velous feeling for a movie to provoke.
At the same time, Fragments:
Jerusalem intentionally leaves huge
areas unsurveyed. It's almost as if Ron
Havilio was extending an invitation to
others: Seek the soul of Jerusalem, your
Jerusalem, in your polished heirlooms
and grandparents' reminiscences. ❑

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Fragments: Jerusalem airs in four

installments Monday evenings at
9 p.m. beginning March 5 on the
Sundance Channel.

..Ty

critic and journalist.

3/2

" Ati:itiallew c. 10104

2001

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