"FOOTNOTES" 2012 (Hearat Shulayim) was the opening film of the Budapest Israeli film week on Dec. 1, 2016 A tale of father and son as Talmudic rivals. Director, Joseph Cedar. 103 minutes. Stars, Lior Ashkenazi and Shlomo Bar-Aba. This unusual subject matter about academic bickering over obscure Talmudic research was an indication that things to come might be contrary to expectation. The film, extremely talky and overloaded with extreme facial closeups was all about a batty old scholar, Eliezer Shkolnik, who has spent his life making notes on the Talmud , and is basically "out of it" (to the point that he doesn't even understand what security guards are for at checkpoints) and is a candidate for a major national prize. Hieever this highly prestigious award is mistakenly given to his handsome charismatic but more superficial professor son Uriel-- who has certain guilt feelings about the misaccreditation and struggles to set things right against the stonewalling opposition of the awards committee. The bulk of the picture is taken up with internal academic bickering over whether or not Papa should ultimately be recognized or not. Basically what we get is dramatically charged father and son rivalry tale cum inquiry into academic chicanery. The primarily Hungarian-Jewish audience was enthralled, but to me it was a shrill shaggy dog story, basically the making of a mountain out of a molehill. Aren't there more important things to worry about in Israel than who should get the credit for marginal notations on the Talmud?. The father was played by Shlomo Bar-Abba (66) and the son by Lior Askenazi (43) both well known Israeli actors.
Roger Ebert in one of his last reviews, focusing on the father son relationship, gave this film a rave review mentioning that it was to be seen as a comedy. I personally saw nothing comic in it at all and, while somewhat impressed by certain scenes, was not quite as swept away as Roger. To me it was too much of a talkathon with too many extreme facial closeups. Nevertheless, interesting for the portrayal of internal academic politics and backbiting which is not a topic often addressed in the current cinema. PLOT: Talmud scholar Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar-Aba) has worked in obscurity for years at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. In contrast, Eliezer's son, Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi), also an academic, has published many books, received numerous accolades and is something of a social celebrity. Eliezer looks down on his son's achievements and pursuit of fame, and so the pair have a rocky relationship. Their rivalry comes to a head when Eliezer receives word that, at long last, he is to be the recipient of the prestigious Israeli Prize. Yes, in the end Dad will get the prize but not everybody is happy about it.
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Roger Ebert in one of his last reviews, focusing on the father son relationship, gave this film a rave review mentioning that it was to be seen as a comedy. I personally saw nothing comic in it at all and, while somewhat impressed by certain scenes, was not quite as swept away as Roger. To me it was too much of a talkathon with too many extreme facial closeups. Nevertheless, interesting for the portrayal of internal academic politics and backbiting which is not a topic often addressed in the current cinema. PLOT: Talmud scholar Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar-Aba) has worked in obscurity for years at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. In contrast, Eliezer's son, Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi), also an academic, has published many books, received numerous accolades and is something of a social celebrity. Eliezer looks down on his son's achievements and pursuit of fame, and so the pair have a rocky relationship. Their rivalry comes to a head when Eliezer receives word that, at long last, he is to be the recipient of the prestigious Israeli Prize. Yes, in the end Dad will get the prize but not everybody is happy about it.
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