Although James Caan’s breakout role was as an Italian mobster in The Godfather, the actor is actually Jewish, and he embraces his religious heritage in the just-released film, Holy Lands, where he plays a Jewish American doctor who moves to Israel to raise pigs.
It is currently playing in theaters in the US and is available for rental/purchase on all major platforms, including – but not limited to – iTunes, Amazon, Google, Vudu, as well as cable/satellite Video on Demand. It will be available on DVD beginning on July 30.
Directed by Amanda Sthers and adapted from her novel, it explores the life of Harry (Caan), a former cardiologist from New York who suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth. It is a move that deeply shocks his family and puts him at odds with the local community in Israel, in particular Rabbi Moshe (Tom Hollander).
Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica (Rosanna Arquette) is coping with having been diagnosed with a brain tumor. At the same time, she is trying to manage the lives of their adult children: the unfocused Annabelle (Efrat Dor), and David (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a gay avant-garde playwright. Harry’s family members turn to each other to try to figure out why he has made this baffling new career choice, and eventually come to understand his decision, as well as how he has influenced their own lives.
The film won awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography at the Downtown Film Festival in LA in 2018, and has been shown at many film festivals around the US.
Caan first visited Israel in 2016. When asked by The Media Line whether he had been told by anyone not to visit Israel, he replied, “No, I don’t hang around with antisemites if that’s what you mean, and I don’t know any. And if I did, I’d punch them in the face.”