Short Reviews
Paradise Grove is a debut by award-winning Charles Harris set in a Jewish old age home in north London. It stars Rula Lenska and Ron Moody, who gives one of the best performances of his life.
It's the first Jewish movie to be made within the United Kingdom for 10 years and I found Harris's work deeply moving as the acutely-observed characters work out their own salvation. It's a film that deals with the way we live, and die, now. And I hope to discuss it at further length when it is distributed more generally.
- Tom Hutchinson
Berlin: Action!
Definitely worth watching is Paradise Grove by newcomer Charles Harris. Living and working in a Jewish retirement home, 19-year-old Keith is struggling to adopt a Jewish identity and escape everybody's advice on how to become happy. An unvarnished portrayal of old age and ignorant mothers, the film is a bittersweet comedy, starring a brilliantly angry Ron Moody as Keith's grandfather.
Commonwealth Film Festival
This tender, unsentimental coming-of-age film is an audience-pleaser which never hides its serious undertones. It manages to tackle issues of cultural and religious identity, old age and euthanasia, all under the guise of light-hearted comedy. Beautifully-shot in sunlit tones and accompanied by a memorable jazz soundtrack performed by Burning Bush, Paradise Grove is an accomplished feature-film debut from acclaimed documentary director Charles Harris.
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