Footnote (2011)
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Footnote Movie Review
Footnote is a 2011 Israeli drama film directed by Joseph Cedar and starring Lior Ashkenazi and Shlomo Bar Aba. It is a very well scripted, but weakly executed movie.
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“That’s a very nice idea.
Very nice, but wrong“
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Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are father and son as well as rival professors in Talmudic Studies. When both men learn that Eliezer will be lauded for his work, their complicated relationship reaches a new peak. First and foremost, I personally do not have the greatest opinion of the college as an educational system and I certainly do not know anything substantial about Talmud. Thus, this movie did prove to be too specific for me personally.
Still, I was interested in it because it featured some universal themes, in particular focusing on academic obsession, rivalry and unhealthy relationships that stem from that competitiveness. The father-son relationship at the core of this picture is very well developed and quite complex. Psychologically speaking, you feel the turmoil within the protagonist and that was the film’s biggest strength.
Both Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi delivered outstanding acting work here. The movie definitely went there in terms of psychological insight by fully delving into their dynamic and the protagonist’s complicated feelings regarding the matter. It’s really a wonderfully scripted film.
What is my issue then? Well, the film is just solid and not great and the blame should be put squarely on the execution. The directing is particularly problematic as Joseph Cedar directed the movie in a way that made it totally uninvolving and even lifeless at times. The second act is the only section where the film became alive and garnered significant momentum.
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But the first act of Footnote is very slow and uninteresting while the third act is overly ambiguous and frustratingly uneven. The whole movie is extremely uneven, not all that cinematic and filmed with an overwhelming emphasis on a loud score to portray the characters’ emotions. It needed much better editing and pacing at the end of the day. It was an Oscar nominee in a year that wasn’t particularly great for international cinema.
Footnote is an Israeli drama film that explores some interesting themes, in particular delving into academic obsession, rivalry and the toxic relationships that stem from that competitiveness. The script is fantastic and the acting is terrific too. The problem here is that Joseph Cedar failed to direct the film with enough style and energy as the end result is a slog to sit through that only garnered momentum in the second half. It’s a strong example of the importance of executing your ideas properly over just throwing them chaotically on the screen.
My Rating – 3.5
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