Jerusalem

Magnificently scenic but fatally bland ...

The film is at its most moving, paradoxically, when the camera gets down to street level, seeming to squeeze, for example, into a small shop in the walled Old City, where two men play backgammon amid claustrophobically over-hung racks of trinkets.

Laudable for turning armchair tourism into a breathtaking experience - a viewer can truly feel as if he or she has gone inside a number of fantastic, ancient places.

This IMAX spectacular largely does what it's supposed to: fascinate, educate, and visually wow the audience, in 45 minutes or less.

The film effectively answers why this one place, not even a square kilometre in size, is such prime religious real estate, but it barely gestures toward the blood that has been paid for it.

Benedict Cumberbatch narrates with effortless authority but it's the personal stories of three attractive young women, present day inhabitants representing the three faiths, which make this a moving and vital production.

You don't just go to Jerusalem. You experience Jerusalem. Those are the words of the director of this phenomenal documentary.

The film unearths some of this history as well, even if at times it feels like a quick course in comparative religion. Its message is familiar -- let's all try to get along -- but the views are remarkable.