Books and Bullets

By J.C.

THE JERUSALEM FILE Directed by JOHN FLYNN Screenplay by TROY KENNEDY MARTIN

When last seen, Bruce Davison was being devoured by vermin in Willard. He is back, with no visible scars, in The Jerusalem File. This is an adventure in which the only rats are a mob of blood thirsty Arabs who cruise about in a ramshackle black sedan gunning down their enemies.

At Yale, Bruce befriended a youthful Arab partisan named Raschid (Zeev Revah), who spoke eloquently of his people's cause. Now, with Bruce studying in the Holy Land, the two resume their tete-a-tetes while Raschid loads automatic-rifle clips. After Raschid goes underground with those fellows in the black sedan, Bruce is one of the few people in Jerusalem who knows how to get in touch with him.

Donald Pleasence, as an Israeli security operative, wants Bruce to inform on his friend. Bruce's fellow university students, who appear to be mixing archaeology with target practice in the desert, want him to use Raschid to ar range a palaver with the Arabs. Nicol Williamson, as one of Bruce's teachers, warns him of the dangers of involvement. Whether Williamson encourages his students' books-and-bullets curriculum or merely abides it is never clear.

But then neither are the other motivations in The Jerusalem File interference from Pleasence and Williamson and several ominous appearances by the black sedan. The students drive across the dunes to meet their fate, and the movie ends as it began: badly. Raoul Coutard's photography, however, is very easy on the eyes, as is Daria Halprin, modeling the latest in kibbutz sportswear.

qedJ.C.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.