Footnote (Israel)

One of the films I got to checkout in Palm Springs was Footnote, Israel's national submission for the 2012 Foreign Language Oscar. When the director was introduced he asked something along the lines, "you do know you're all here to see a film about Talmudic scholars - right?" This is the sort of heavy, talky guilt ridden film about not especially nice but remarkably smug folks that some folks tend to really love. Not entirely unrelated - one should ignore the comparisons to A Serious Man which the festival catalog throws out without in my view any real basis.

I was a little surprised with how much the trailer below gives away - so you might want to skip it if you have any interest in seeing the film.

The picture starts with an older man begrudgingly getting dragged out of the house and to an award ceremony he clearly doesn't want to be at, for his adult son.  These two are the main characters. Talmudic scholars both - but taking different approaches to academic life. Uriel (the son) has achieved significant professional success, eclipsing his father Eliezer. Uriel relishes the accolades of his peers, to the extent that one new professor is given advice to be sure to always somehow be praising him. Eliezer has a strict purist interpretation of how to behave - he spent 30 years chasing a theory without publishing only to lose credit at the last minute when a competitor finds proof of his theory in an old manuscript. He finds little value in the work of most others - and also tends to look absolutely miserable. When Eliezer is selected for the incredibly prestigious Israel prize after decades of declines there is a dramatic change in both men. In some ways good, in others bad - but certainly with lots of drama, guilt, and soul searching.

Uriel is the more fully sketched character, and while neither man is especially likable, in the third act Uriel steps up in a dramatic way that makes it hard not to respect him. It also makes the final recognition he faces that perhaps others in the establishment were right about his father's achievements all the more painful. Visually Footnote is warm and rich and the performances are nothing to sneeze at. The narrator driven structure early in the film which fills in the biographical details of the parties I found particularly well done. It's the story and ability to connect with the characters that left me a tad put-off. On the surface I didn't greatly care for Footnote, though upon reflection I've found additional depth that that's making the film slowly grow on me. It's an interesting watch, with an unclear payoff but at least something to ponder later. And there is a random female character that no attempt is ever made to explain. I do sort of love that.

Clearly members of the Academy loved the film enough to put it in the top 9 for the foreign language Oscar. As such you might want to take my limited enthusiasm with a grain of salt.