Simon
Magus, directed and written by Ben Hopkins, is a British
film about a nineteenth century Silesian village (though actually
filmed in Wales) in which most of the land is owned by a squire
(played by Rutger Hauer), while Jews live in ramshackle housing
and the nearby Gentiles are housed in brick dwellings. A railroad
has been built through the squire’s territory, destroying
much of the livelihood of the few remaining Jewish residents,
who in turn blame Simon Magus (played by Noah Taylor) because
he appears to commune with the Devil (played by Ian Holm),
though he is merely a mentally challenged Jewish outcast who
collects the village’s outhouse excrement, see visions, and
utters gibberish. Dovid (played by Stuart Townsend), who is
courting Leah (played by Embeth Davidtz), is frustrated that
his amorous overtures are rejected as he brings provisions
to her daily. One day Dovid get the idea that Leah and the
Jewish community would benefit if there were a rail stop near
the village, with shops (including a bakery of Leah) close
to the tracks. Accordingly, he proposes to buy a parcel of
land from the squire to be paid over time (with no money down)
as profits accrue. The squire defers a decision, saying that
Dovid must first read his poetry and a book each week so that
he will have someone with whom to have intelligent conversations.
However, Maximilian Hase (played by Sean McGinley), the richest
Polish entrepreneur in the village, gets wind of the idea,
provides food to bribe Simon Magus to find out who has also
made an offer for the land. After Magus reports who has made
the offer, Hase tells Dovid that he will burn the houses of
the Jewish community if he does not withdraw his offer to
purchase the parcel. Dovid goes to the squire to withdraw
the offer, but afterward the squire decides to award the parcel
to Dovid anyway, declaring that the development was his idea
in the first place. The real reason for the squire’s action
is that he resents Hase’s arrogance, who is uncultured but
rich. Next, Hase hatches a plot. He kidnaps a Gentile baby,
places the baby into a small box, and asks Simon Magus (in
exchange for food) to secrete the box underneath the table
at the passover dinner but not to disclose the contents to
anyone. Magus, however, is curious to know what is in the
box, and he arranges to return the baby to its mother while
substituting a rabbit. When Hase and his henchmen arrive at
the seder dinner, demanding to search for a kidnapped baby,
the box is discovered and opened, revealing that Magus has
made a switch. Hase then burns Simon Magus’s hovel, but Leah
finally accepts Dovid’s marriage proposal. A fascinating study
of relations between the social classes as well as between
Jews and Gentiles, the tagline of the film is "A magical tale
from a Vanquished World." Among Simon Magus’s visions is that
of a train carrying dead Jews to hell. MH
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