The Heritage

An old-fashioned costume drama, which cuts between present-day Jerusalem and Toledo, Spain, at the time of the Inquisition and the suppression of the seders. Its parallel love stories - in the modern story an Israeli Jew befriends an air hostess on his trip to locate a house described on an ancient family document brought to him by a lawyer; in the past, a Gentile falls for the imprisoned Jewish woman he's assigned to spy on - function poorly as a means of bringing history 'alive'; and as a 'reconciliation' love story, the film leaves much to be desired, as do its awkward transitions and plot contrivances. It's strangely compulsive, none the less, in a sandal-saga kind of way.