Simon Magus, directed and written by Ben Hopkins, is a British film about a nineteenth century Silesian village (though actually filmed in Wales) in which most of the land is owned by a squire (played by Rutger Hauer), while Jews live in ramshackle housing and the nearby Gentiles are housed in brick dwellings. A railroad has been built through the squire’s territory, destroying much of the livelihood of the few remaining Jewish residents, who in turn blame Simon Magus (played by Noah Taylor) because he appears to commune with the Devil (played by Ian Holm), though he is merely a mentally challenged Jewish outcast who collects the village’s outhouse excrement, see visions, and utters gibberish. Dovid (played by Stuart Townsend), who is courting Leah (played by Embeth Davidtz), is frustrated that his amorous overtures are rejected as he brings provisions to her daily. One day Dovid get the idea that Leah and the Jewish community would benefit if there were a rail stop near the village, with shops (including a bakery of Leah) close to the tracks. Accordingly, he proposes to buy a parcel of land from the squire to be paid over time (with no money down) as profits accrue. The squire defers a decision, saying that Dovid must first read his poetry and a book each week so that he will have someone with whom to have intelligent conversations. However, Maximilian Hase (played by Sean McGinley), the richest Polish entrepreneur in the village, gets wind of the idea, provides food to bribe Simon Magus to find out who has also made an offer for the land. After Magus reports who has made the offer, Hase tells Dovid that he will burn the houses of the Jewish community if he does not withdraw his offer to purchase the parcel. Dovid goes to the squire to withdraw the offer, but afterward the squire decides to award the parcel to Dovid anyway, declaring that the development was his idea in the first place. The real reason for the squire’s action is that he resents Hase’s arrogance, who is uncultured but rich. Next, Hase hatches a plot. He kidnaps a Gentile baby, places the baby into a small box, and asks Simon Magus (in exchange for food) to secrete the box underneath the table at the passover dinner but not to disclose the contents to anyone. Magus, however, is curious to know what is in the box, and he arranges to return the baby to its mother while substituting a rabbit. When Hase and his henchmen arrive at the seder dinner, demanding to search for a kidnapped baby, the box is discovered and opened, revealing that Magus has made a switch. Hase then burns Simon Magus’s hovel, but Leah finally accepts Dovid’s marriage proposal. A fascinating study of relations between the social classes as well as between Jews and Gentiles, the tagline of the film is “A magical tale from a Vanquished World.” Among Simon Magus’s visions is that of a train carrying dead Jews to hell. MH