Simon Magus (film)

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Simon Magus
Directed by Ben Hopkins
Written byRob Cheek
Ben Hopkins
Produced byRobert Jones
Starring Stuart Townsend
Noah Taylor
Rutger Hauer
Embeth Davidtz
Sean McGinley
Ian Holm
CinematographyNicholas D. Knowland
Edited byAlan Levy
Music by Deborah Mollison
Distributed by Channel Four Films
Release date
  • 17 February 1999 (1999-02-17)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Simon Magus is a 1999 British historical mystery drama film directed by Ben Hopkins and starring Noah Taylor and Stuart Townsend. It was entered into the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. [1]

Contents

Background

The film is named for the village fool Simon (Noah Taylor), who is in turn named for the 1st century magician Simon Magus.

Plot

In 19th century Poland, a Jew named Dovid Bendel (Stuart Townsend) tries to revive his dwindling shtetl village by building a railway station next to it. The squire (Rutger Hauer) agrees to provide the land, on the condition that Dovid will read his poetry. A cunning business man (Sean McGinley) is also interested in the land and he tries to compete using money and threats. Through this all wanders the outcast Simon (Noah Taylor), a man rumoured to have magical powers.

Cast

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References

  1. "Berlinale: 1999 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 4 February 2012.