This Movie Thing Might Actually Happen

I got the script for the Jerusalem movie in the mail. I thought they were going to e-mail it, but they sent an actual copy. I consider that a good thing. In my mind, you make movies with physical scripts. I suppose sooner or later everyone will just hold phones during rehearsals, but for now, I'm glad to see they are still doing it the old fashioned way.

The good news is that this is an interesting story with characters that I wanted to know about while reading. The bad news is that this is a small, independent production with no special effects and a main character who is well over 50 years old. If everything goes forward as planned, and if this thing gets filmed, and if it's distributed internationally, this movie will never play in China. It might not even play outside of Israel. Realistically, it might not even play inside Israel. It is amazing how many movies get made but never distributed.

Very few foreign films play in China, and almost none of them are ever small, independent productions about old ladies and their families. People criticize China for their protectionism, but how many foreign films play in the United States? Probably a lot more than in China, but how many foreign films are playing at your local megaplex? When I lived in Minnesota, I always had to go to the Landmark or all the way up to the Heights to see anything not in English. American theater conglomerations are just as guilty as China of catering to computer animation monsters and computer animation explosions.

The Jerusalem movie has no dinosaurs, no pirates, no vampires and not a single comic book superhero. It is about an old lady and her family. Most of the scenes take place inside houses and restaurants. The exterior scenes will probably be filmed at those actual locations without green screens and CGI backgrounds. Nothing explodes, other than personal relationships, and the planet and/or universe is never in any danger. I doubt any computers will ever be used. On screen, at least. I'm sure everyone uses computers in editing now.

This is the kind of movie I want to see. I only hope I will be able to someday.