This film is my first foray into contemporary Russian cinema, a kind of cinema of rare international spread and virtually unknown here in Western Europe. Although I was expecting something else, I wasn't very disappointed because I didn't expect too much either. The true Zohar is a series of commentaries to the Torah, written to clarify their reading and interpretation, a concern for the Jews of that period, as they increasingly faced the need to hide their faith and spread out. Thus, Zohar was a naturally codified book, addressed to Jewish judges and priests and made to prevent them from coming out of orthodoxy. Despite that, these film's Zohar is a kind of magical parchment with secrets about the nature of Man's existence. In addition, the film relies on the ever-controversial idea of ​​reincarnation, as a way for Man to correct their mistakes and evolve, a concept imported from Hinduism and Eastern philosophies a few decades ago, by New Age theorists and shamans.Thus, the fim's script is the story of a character, originally Roman, who finds a magical scroll that he must return to it's rightful place, and this task becomes a duty passed from reincarnation to reincarnation, in a game of cat and mouse that we hardly understand and that ends up becoming repetitive and annoying. The succession of lives and historical contexts makes everything meaningless and we begin to think what the hell of movie we're watching. The dialogues of spiritualistic content couldn't be more boring, enigmatic and hermetic. Historical likelihood is also debatable, especially with regard to costumes of some periods. Thus, the final product is a confusing and repetitive film, absurdly imaginative and implausible as a surrealistic dream. The nature of the parchment is never explained and the lack of connection between the audience and the main character makes us never worry about what happens to him.

I've just seen this movie yesterday and cant stop thinking about the strong emotions it made me feel. I won't go into a praise only to be called delusional after by people who have clearly not grasped the concept and meaning of this film. If you are thinking about watching this movie, but are put off by the negative reviews, consider this:Who are you going to believe? The guys who claim they were open-minded enough to watch this film, but at the same time prove the opposite when denying every possibility that a person might actually, really, truthfully like this movie by stating that the positive reviews MUST be written by reviewers who are either delusional or paid, or simply have terrible taste OR the few people who say this movie is a gem, a one-of-a-kind creation with a deep meaning about life and humanity, but requires a certain type of world view and most of all, openness to be able to see the value in it. The decision is yours to make.

People giving this movie a ten out of ten rating must be as delusional as the character himself. I tried really hard to be open minded like some reviewers said before starting to watch The Zohar Secret. But after one hour I had real troubles keeping concentrated on the movie. It's all very confusing and most of all boring. Okay the producers might not have a big budget but that's not an excuse to make a bad movie. First of all it's way too long and second of all way too boring and repetitive. I won't say that all the positive reviewers are involved in some way with the movie. Some might, but I also think some people have just an awful taste in movies. Like one reviewer said, that he saw thousands of movies, I did also, and to him this one was the best ever, to me it doesn't appear in my top 1000 movies. Enough said!

This movie is unlike anything else i've seen. There are many great drama and sci-fi movies that touch on the topic of the meaning of life and the purpose of humanity, but this movie really touches a nerve with its message. It's very well written and directed, with an excellent performance from the cast, whom i understand participated on this film because they believed in the importance of showcasing this to the world. The soundtrack truly enhances the film and the different parts of the world and settings where the movie was shot add greatly to the way the film develops. The book of Zohar has been a mystery throughout generations and this film manages to capture the unveiling of the message written in this book and how it can help humanity in discovering our true essence as human beings. The principles of love, unity and caring for the rest of society as we care about ourselves are the basis for building the better world we would all like to live in.I really hope that this movie gets massive showcasing around the world.