Starring Lior Ashkenazi, Shlomo Bar-Aba
Directed by Joseph Cedar
From its opening salvo, Footnotes bombastic score not only alerts us to the swirling drama and suspenseful twists that await us, but also the idiosyncratic comedy that writer-director Joseph Cedar derives from the most unlikely of sources: Talmudic studies.
At the centre of this comedy of errors are two Professor Shkolniks. A wonderfully orchestrated flashback sequence details how luckless Eliezer (Shlomo Bar-Aba) saw 30 years of diligent research rendered unnecessary by another scholars chance discovery. His simmering resentment is further fuelled by the rampant success enjoyed by his son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi), whose more accessible Talmud-related writing he considers to be frivolous.
When a clerical error sees Eliezer awarded the prestigious Israel Prize intended for Uriel, the younger Shkolnik must decide whether to let the spotlight shine on a man who seemingly has nothing but disdain for him.
Its precisely the sort of impossible decision that characters are required to make in all finely crafted screenplays, knowing that, regardless of their choice, not everyone gets to live happily ever after. As the drama escalates, Cedar skilfully entwines his characters arcs: Uriel discovers his inner resolve while the newly-emboldened Eliezer succumbs to petulance and vindictiveness.
The filmmakers gift for wry humour and clever visuals is never more apparent than when Uriel confers with the Israel Prize committee. As a small army of intellectuals cram into a miniscule office like clowns into an undersized car, the scene never lapses into cartoonishness. Instead, it sublimely illustrates the utter absurdity of Uriels predicament and certifies that Footnote holds equal appeal for admirers of either Franz Kafka or the Coen Brothers.
