''Not Quite Paradise'' is a 1985 British

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

directed by

Lewis Gilbert Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), '' Sink the Bismarck! ...

. It was originally released in Europe under the title ''Not Quite Jerusalem'', adapted by Paul Kember from his 1982 play of the same name. It was filmed on two

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

im,

Eilot Eilot () is the southernmost kibbutz in Israel. It is located in the Aravah Valley, near the border with Jordan. Eilot is less than a kilometer north of Eilat, and just over 3 kilometers north of the Red Sea. It falls under the jurisdiction o ...

and Grofit, as well as at the

Mikveh Israel Mikveh Israel () is a youth village and boarding school in the Tel Aviv District of central Israel, established in 1870. It was the first Jewish agricultural school in what is now Israel and indeed the first modern Jewish settlement in Palestine ...

Agricultural School.

Plot

Six naive British and American

volunteers Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...

arrive on kibbutz Kfar Ezra for a working holiday, exchanging their labour for the opportunity to experience first-hand its unique collective lifestyle. When Mike ( Sam Robards), a young

medical student A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

, falls in love with Gila ( Joanna Pacuła), the Israeli girl who is organising the volunteers' work and accommodation, he must choose between a life with her and returning home.

Cast

Critical reception

''Not Quite Paradise'' received very poor reviews. Nina Darnton of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' panned the film as "an example of a good idea spoiled by a hackneyed, heavy-handed script, awkward directorial pacing, and posed acting... The script, while trying to humorously characterize national stereotypes, succeeds only in being insulting." Joe Baltake of Philly.com called it "annoyingly schizophrenic – thuddingly humorless when it isn't shockingly offensive." In a savage review in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'',

Patrick Goldstein Patrick Goldstein is an American former film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times'' who wrote about movies in a column titled ''The Big Picture''. Colleague Tom O'Neil described him as the newspaper's "chief Oscarologist" as his colum ...

argued that an "awkward" and "uneven" script, "a paucity of intriguing characters", and an overwrought soundtrack of quivering violins "delivers a dreary, cliché-ridden film with all the wallop of a sheaf of crumbling parchment paper." London's '' Time Out'' contrasted the "strong material" in Paul Kember's original play to this melodramatic, "caramelized" screen version: "Gilbert has created a toffee-apple with the apple removed: bite through the sweet crust of romantic Holy Land locations, handsome Israelis, dashing Arab terrorists and corny jokes, and what remains is sheer emptiness." ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' was equally dismissive, noting, "the world of an Israeli kibbutz is reduced to a few simple-minded cinematic clichés... no different from a boarding school or overnight camp. The only really indigenous thing to be found here is the beautifully photographed Israeli scenery, which borders on travelog material rather than background setting."

References

External links

* * * * {{Lewis Gilbert 1985 films Films about the kibbutz Films about medical students Films directed by Lewis Gilbert British films based on plays British comedy-drama films Films shot in Israel New World Pictures films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films