Synopsis
Simon is an outcast from his Jewish community because he claims that the devil talks to him and he has the ability to put curses on crops. When Dovid asks the 'Squire' to sell him some land so he can build a railway station, a ruthless businessman from the neighbouring gentile community uses Simon to find out who wants to buy the land so he can 'persuade' him otherwise
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Cast
- Noah TaylorSimon
- Stuart TownsendDovid Bendal
- Sean McGinleyMaximillian Hase
- Embeth DavidtzLeah
- Amanda RyanSarah
- Rutger HauerCount Albrecht, the Squire
- Ian HolmSirius / Boris / The Devil
- Terence RigbyBratislav
- Toby JonesBuchholz
- Jim DunkSaul
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Tribune
An engaging character study, steeped in religion, demonology and community politics. - 75
Boston Globe
An odd but original, at times even poetic, film about a vanished world. - 67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
For all it's warmth and wonder, it carries little more power than a storybook fable. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
The film has a persuasive murkiness and one extended mythopoetic final sequence that's almost moving in its silence. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
Though the film ends on a surprising and genuinely magical note, it takes its own sweet time getting there; some viewers will have lost patience before the denouement arrives. - 50
Christian Science Monitor
This historical fantasy is too ambitious for its own good, but contains some striking imagery and likable performances. - 50
Chicago Sun-Times
The more I think about Simon Magus, the less I'm sure what it's trying to say. - 50
The New York Times
May be reasonably diverting, but the story never matches the movie's fantastic visual imagination.
