Eliezer Shkolnik is seated at a ceremony honoring his son Uriel Shkolnik's admission to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities an honor that has never been accorded to him. He appears uncomfortable barely forcing himself to rise to his feet in perfunctory applause before quickly sitting down. Hence begins "Footnote" the brilliant Israeli 2011 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. Both Shkolniks are Talmudic researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem but that is where the similarity ends. Eliezer is an obstinate traditionalist and loner who rejects new ideas and the establishment that embraces them. As a result he is relegated to obscurity by his colleagues who deny him any recognition beyond the dusty footnote he received in the book of an old revered scholar. Uriel on the other hand is popular and adopts the changes his father despises. One day Eliezer receives a phone call informing him that he is the recipient of the Israel Prize. What he doesn't know is that the call is a mistake. It is his son Uriel who is the intended recipient. The roles of father and son are beautifully played by Shlomo Bar-Aba and Lior Ashkenazi respectively. Micah Lewensohn is excellent in a supporting role as a rival of Eliezer's who refuses to relent in his dislike of his old academic adversary. The screenplay by director Joseph Cedar was inspired by a real life incident in which he received a phone call notifying him of an award he suspected was really intended for his father. Anyone interested in something fresh at the movies should find this film compelling and thought provoking. "Footnote" asks us how much does a father owe a son and vice versa. It also asks us to think about the different ways we have of arriving at the truth and how much we're willing to sacrifice for it.
