An American Hippie in Israel

Have you ever wanted to see what it would have been like if a man LESS talented than Ed Wood had made a Billy Jack movie? No...but apparently someone did and the resulting atrocity, "An American Hippie in Israel" is one of the worst films I've seen...and I've probably seen more bad films than the producers of "MSTK3000"!

The story is mostly nonsense. But from what I was able to gather, an American veteran of the Vietnam war is tired of death and he becomes a hippie who runs away to Israel. Periodically, mime-like white-faced guys in top hats appear and try to kill him or his friends. In one scene, the pair manage to kill EVERYONE but the lead and his three friends...even though they are standing among those gunned down by the white-faced guys. But all he wants is to be happy and live in peace with his new Israeli hippie friends.

This movie is considered one of the worst films ever made and in Israel it's obtained cult status...sort of like "The Room" in the USA. Why? Because although the story is total nonsense, it is clearly the BEST aspect of the movie! The sound mixing is nutty...with either heavyhanded music OR long periods of silence. It seems they had no idea how to use incidental background music! The cinematography is best described as amateurish. And, the acting is beyond amateurish...as amateurs had to be significanty better. The worst of it, however, is that folks keep taking off their clothes. Now you'd THINK this could only improve the movie, but they are so unattractive you feel like yelling at the screen "Put it back on!!!". Yes, these are really, really, REALLY unattractive hippies.

My daughter summed it up best when she said that she much preferred the commercials the Plex channel inserted into the movie. Yes, it's that horrible. But, it might be a good film to watch with friends who like seeing terrible movies...or perhaps not because it rarely is even unintentionally funny. Amazingly, however, it manages to actually be WORSE than any of Ed Wood's films...even "Bride of the Monster" or "Plan 9 From Outer Space".

By the way, it's really sad that the basic plot (which soon gets lost) is actually interesting...a man, tired of death and society choosing to drop out. Too bad it didn't stick to this...or have competent writing, singing, directing, cinematography, editing or acting.

This bizarre movie was made by a former lifeguard turned short film maker, stars fairly good actors (some of whom were stars on the Tel Aviv theater stages for years to come) hamming it up or just given odd direction, has an alright but VERY repetitive score by one of Israel's greatest composers, and contains such unforgettable scenes as the "STOP PUSHING BUTTONS" speech, a psychedelic dream sequence involving smashing giant tape recorder things with a sledgehammer, a hippie-palooza in an abandoned warehouse, random toplessness, cardboard sharks, loooooooooong wandering across desert islands, and the main cast screaming out "Wonderful Feeling!" over and over. The insane ending has to be seen to be believed. If you can get your hands on this film (or if that DVD ever comes out), get some friends over and get ready to riff the hell out of it: this film is plan 9 quality stuff, and I love every minute of it.

I believe that Markastzm's review gets everything right, except one very thing. Indeed, he is correct that the mimes and the sharks both represent "The Man", and also that the film does not refute hippie ideals, but rather shows the unrelenting glee "The Man" takes in squashing those embracing those ideals. Markastzm is wrong, however, when he states that "Neither the characters, the actors, nor the director take themselves too seriously". There is an interview with two of the actors on the blu-ray disc and they indicate that took all of this very seriously, and that - to some extent - they all naively thought they were making a important statement. And it is precisely this that makes this film such a jaw-droppingly WTF oddity. Tedious to no end, but also fun in the right mindset with the right group of friends.

I supposed that the few hippies who bothered to see "An American Hippie In Israel" during its theatrical release probably reacted with a "far out!" at the time. But I think that if those same people were to see the movie today, they would wonder, "What were we thinking?" It's a real head-scratcher of a movie. For a long time, there seems to be no real plot, just people going place to place and occasionally taking off their clothes. Then it turns into a weird story of people stuck on a desert island. I don't have a good idea what the point of this movie was supposed to be. It seems aimless, and there are things like the two pursuers of the title figure that are never explained. There is some nice Israeli scenery, but a good look only goes a little way in a movie - you need a good story and well-written characters as well, and this movie simply doesn't have those two important things.

Flying to Israel from New York City, American hippie and Vietnam War veteran Asher Tzarfati (as Mike) is picked up while hitchhiking, by attractive actress Lily Avidan (as Elizabeth). They almost get into an accident with two mute men in weird suits and chalk-white make-up. These men have been following Mr. Tzarfati around the world. After copulating at her place, the twosome enjoy a fun hippie lifestyle. They befriend another couple, Shmuel Wolf and Tzila Karney. The foursome end up on a deserted island paradise where they either go naked or wear tight bikinis...

The island is supposed to be a paradise, with plenty of freedom. However, after sex and frolicking, the quartet eventually find their food and transportation are gone. They are stranded and begin to act like the animals. Apparently, the outside world isn't going to let Amos Sefer's hippies obtain freedom without a fight. This is an allegorical story hampered by the fact that the characters we're supposed to like are so annoying, we're often rooting for them to get shot or run over. The dubbing and repetitive soundtrack are not helpful. The location footage is most appealing.

*** An American Hippie in Israel/ Ha-Trempist (1972) Amos Sefer ~ Asher Tzarfati, Lily Avidan, Shmuel Wolf, Tzila Karney