An American Hippie in Israel

Unbelievable. Godawful. Mess. This was (inexplicably) on Turner Classic Movies at 2 am this weekend. Curiosity got the better of me (bad me!) and I tuned in. Hippies obviously wrote(?) this, shot it, directed it, all while stoned. I'm waiting for the MST3000 version, or better yet, for someone to give it the "Rocky Horror audience" treatment. Spoilers will not be part of this review, because it would spoil your lunch/dinner/munchies attack. I haven't been stoned in a good 35 years, so maybe state-dependent learning would come into play, and I'd truly be able to appreciate this ever-loving mess of a movie. I have to write ten lines of review, which is about seven lines more than the script had, or for that matter, the emesis-inducing 1970's rock song that keeps playing through the entire movie.

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.

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

This feels like the people who made it actually believed in it, in the Hippie credo. It also feels like they kind of made it up as they went along and don't really know how to make a movie.

The best scene is a silent nightmare sequence both in a funny way and in an inspired way--too bad the whole film can't live up to this level. And the basic idea of a hippie Lord of the Flies is good too. But the action and violence is all laugh out loud poorly done and the long scenes of hippie talk need better actors or an actual script.

The music is quite good at times but gets repeated as do the nice travel shots out into the barren wilds.

The surreal nature of the two "Mine" figures and much of the rest of it feels like a stage troop decided to film a half rehearsed stage show and that's what we have. Camp by definition.

Is it slow, well let's just say scenes go on as long as possible, sometimes that has a retro, you-should-have-been-there quality. Others make you glad you can fast forward.

It's well worth a look if you either like and or like to laugh at hippies at their pure core. Also a little different as it's sort of a culture clash of American Hippie and Euro Hippie. They just needed some real actors and a real filmmaker to put it over, though the lead isn't bad and looks the part. Oh yes there are naked hippie chicks.

A fun, if pokey, movie that you have to see just to say you've seen it all. Get with it.

An American Hippie in Israel is an independent film that revolves around none other than the titular character. I really don't know I can describe it, but here I go. It is downright bizarre, and I do not mean that in a good way. The tone is all over the place, the editing is virtually non-existent, and I honestly cannot describe the writing to save my own life. On the bright side, the two lead males acted in other films (before and after this), which is more than I can say for the two actresses; it's quite a bummer if you ask me. If it hadn't been for the ending, I would've given this tripe a lower rating than 1.9/10.