Movies Reviews

Footnote – New York Film Festival Review

By Ron Wilkinson Oct 20, 2011, 13:37 GMT

The story of a great rivalry between a father and son, both eccentric professors in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem ...more

Father son rivalry taken to the point of no return. On the other hand, is it to the point of no sense?

The beauty of this film is that it contrasts the obscure and marginal with the central and vital. The obscure and marginal is the branch of literary science delving into the finest points of the Talmud. This is not a signal for hate mail to start flowing from the Talmudists of the world.

Yes, you are out there and your work is important. To you. To the rest of us, it is somewhere between last month’s weather and the latest scandal involving TV celebrities.

The obscurity of this segment of literature is contrasted with Talmudic scholar Eliezer Shkolnik’s fanatical devotion to the subject. Eliezer has devoted his life to the dissection of the Talmud. He has analyzed it, taken it apart, put it back together again and probed into the smallest phrases to extract shades of meaning of interest to, well, other Talmudic scholars.

Ass is the case with many devoted scholars, he imbues dignity into his pursuit by never compromising his ideals and never pandering to a perceived lower level of understanding as demonstrated by the hoi polloi.

His son Uriel, on the other hand, is different. Like his father, Uriel is a Talmudic scholar. However, there the similarity ends. The son has rebelled against his father in every other way, confronting his senior first and foremost with a flamboyant style that challenges even the dimmest intellect not to be attracted to his work.

As a result, Uriel the son is much more famous than Eliezer the father. Uriel’s name is a household word, at least in intellectual households, and his father’s name is all but unknown. This is a nail in Eliezer’s foot that pains him with every step.

The film opens with a painfully funny sequence of Uriel receiving yet another award while his father sits in the audience, silently holding back the embarrassment and resentment of his obscurity.

Leaving the party for the patio, he is refused entry back into the event by the robot-like security guard. His crime? He forgot (refused) to don the plastic hospital-like bracelet that identifies the chosen few who are allowed inside.

The scene is a bit clumsy, but it gets the point across. Eliezer is so devoted to his study, and to defending his fragile ego, he is rapidly losing touch with the outside world. He sets himself aside from the world and its awards (and plastic bracelets) as he further alienates himself and increases his isolation.

Imagine his surprise when he receives a notice that he has won the most coveted award of all, the Israel prize. This prize represents the highest achievements and the broadest contributions to Israeli culture and knowledge.

It over reaches the minor literary and religious prizes his son Uriel has hustled in the past with his trendy paperback treatments of serious literature. It is Eliezer’s final validation, after which, he will want no more.

It is a mistake.

In what follows, father and son will grapple with each other in a hilarious Greco-Roman wrestling match of the intellects. Moreover, they grapple in even more deadly earnest with themselves. In the end, a Faustian bargain is proposed that tests that most sacred of bonds, the bond between parent and child.

This is another wonderful success by writer/director Joseph Cedar, although a success that takes a bit of work to enjoy. The superficial story is oedipal competition; the subliminal story is reverent scholarly study contrasted with genuine interpersonal communication that oversimplifies to reach out.

Below that is the story of self-sacrifice and the necessity of putting one’s own self-interest below the dedication required to excel.

Great supporting performances, luscious cinematography and a resounding soundtrack make this film a pleasure to watch, if not to study.

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Directed and Written by: Joseph Cedar
Starring: Lior Ashkenazi,  Shlomo Bar-Aba and Yuval Scharf
Release Date: NYFF—No Planned Release
MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements, brief nudity, language and smoking
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Country: Israel
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
Color: Color