Holy Week is the moment when Jerusalem becomes, for a few days, entirely a city of pilgrimage. The week opens with the palm procession that descends the Mount of Olives towards the walls, thousands of branches held above the crowd; it continues through the commemorations of the Last Supper, the night of Gethsemane, and the Friday processions that move along the Via Dolorosa station by station, in a dozen languages at once. It culminates in the ceremonies of the Holy Sepulchre, where the different Christian communities that share the basilica follow their own rites and their own hours, and where the Orthodox celebration of the Holy Fire draws immense crowds. Because Eastern and Western calendars do not always coincide, the city sometimes lives the same week twice. The film works this material as a study in crowd, sound and light: bells and drums, incense in confined spaces, candles multiplying in a dark rotunda, and the logistics of a city that closes streets and opens gates for its visitors. It is a strong seasonal acquisition, naturally programmed around Easter.
