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Simon Magus

Play trailer Poster for Simon Magus Released Feb 17, 1999 1h 55m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A dairy farmer (Stuart Townsend) and an anti-Semitic aristocrat want to build a railroad station in a depressed village.
Simon Magus

What to Know

Critics Consensus

This debut film of Ben Hopkins' effectively evokes an atmosphere of magic and mysticism.

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Critics Reviews

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Wesley Morris San Francisco Chronicle The villain sneers, and someone in the film- score department is banging a timpani in slow motion, meaning there's probably tragedy around the corner, but things are too earnest and sleepy to be sure. Jul 24, 2001 Full Review Sian Kirwan BBC.com Full of magic and fantasy with an interesting mix of eccentric and complex characters. Rated: 4/5 Jul 24, 2001 Full Review Angie Errigo Empire Magazine A striking feature debut with a creditable stab at magical realism. Rated: 3/5 Jul 24, 2001 Full Review Kelly Vance East Bay Express Presents a fairy-tale Eastern Europe glimpsed from far off through the telescope of melancholy nostalgia. May 4, 2010 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Oct 11, 2005 Full Review Luke Y. Thompson New Times A little too proud of its own eccentricities, often at the expense of the story. Rated: 3/5 Feb 27, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (5) audience reviews
Audience Member A beautiful movie about a world that no loner exits Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member A little known gem, beautifully filmed, acted and scored. An emotional rollercoaster that reduces me almost to stifled sobbing tears every time. Worth watching for the final two or three astonishing minutes alone. Tragic beauty full of symbolism, a work about prejudice of several kinds, primarily about poor Simon - he who adapts to rejection by creating bizarre little ways to get his own back and arouse supersitious fear. Beneath all that posturing is a good heart, but will his people be wise enough to see it? Highly recommended if you like the unusual. The film speed is pushed and flickers at times to great atmospheric effect too, so it is definitely an artistic creation to be admired. In amongst it all is Rutger Hauer's most profound role since Blade Runner and Ian Holms is at his most unnerving since going robot on Ripley in Alien! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member le synopsis en anglais est faux ! voilà le pitch en français : dans un petit village Simon le Magicien est un paria qui est pris pour un simplet. On le croit possédé par le Diable. les habitants se jouent de lui. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I have no idea who the hell wrote this synopsis, as it isn't the same movie, but the cast is the same...so someones confused and its not me, cause this movie is really brilliant... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Mythical story about acceptance and rejection. Simon is a Jew who is treated like a woman and seeks acceptance among Christians who use him for their own ends. In the end, he finds acceptance nowhere. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Simon Magus

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Cast & Crew

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Ben Hopkins

Director

Noah Taylor

Simon

Embeth Davidtz

Leah

Stuart Townsend

Dovid

Ian Holm

Sirius

Rutger Hauer

Squire

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Simon Magus

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Movie Info

Synopsis A dairy farmer (Stuart Townsend) and an anti-Semitic aristocrat want to build a railroad station in a depressed village.
Director
Ben Hopkins
Producer
Robert Jones
Screenwriter
Ben Hopkins
Distributor
Fireworks International [ca]
Production Co
Arts Council of England, Channel Four Films, ARP, Goldwyn Films, Lucky Red, Hollywood Partners
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 17, 1999, Original
Box Office (Gross USA)
$38.2K
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround