(No ‘spoilers’ in the following)
I was glad the Iranian film A Separation (see earlier mini review here) won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, at least until I saw the Israeli film Footnote.
Now I’m a bit more conflicted.
Footnote opens in NY, and probably LA, Friday, and I hope it will be around long enough for folks to find it and see it.
Without giving anything away, as the less you know before you see this film the better, I think, the film is about a complicated relationship and rivalry between a father and a son (and to a lesser degree, a grandson).
In addition to being nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, Footnote has won a host of awards, including The Best Screenplay Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and numerous 2011 Ophir Awards, Israeli’s equivalent to the Oscars.
There are many good things about this film, including the story, the acting, the subplots, the humor, the sadness, and ultimately the choices that each of the main characters has to make, that I hope you will get a chance to see it. And perhaps we can then talk or write about it without spoiling it for others.
I rarely see a movie twice, but I think I will see both of these again.
PS — Any one interested in an evening at the Millers’ house for a discussion of A Separation and Footnote (and perhaps our own vote about which film deserves the award for Best Foreign Film)? I might even be convinced or willing to practice what I am learning in my Indian cooking classes as an accompaniment to the evening. Let me know if you’re interested.
PPS – Our movie club (where we saw Footnote) gave a positive rating (excellent or good) of 84.7% to The Hunter, mini-reviewed Here.
Further Note: Mar. 9: A.O. Scott reviewed Footnote today in the NY Times
(calling it “a wonderful new film”) as it opened today in NYC. You can read his review Here. It gives more of the story line than I did above, but I don’t think it gives away too much. Scott’s review might make a bit more sense after you have seen the film, however.
tiffany said:
If your life were a movie, the man on the left would have a good shot at playing you, just based on the photo. :)
abe said:
i agree, “footnote” is indeed a very well done film.
i am curious if someone can tell me the significace of uriel’s clothing and personal stuff being supposedly stolen from the gym?, and also; who was the (mystery) woman sitting with the father in the garden and who then also showed up in the end attending the prize ceremony?
Richard said:
The scene in the garden struck me as a purposely ambiguous shot that suggested the son, in fact, does not know all he thinks he knows about the father — was he having an affair or was this just a colleague with whom he was sympatico and shared important things?
As for the loss of clothes in the gym, the best I could think was a statement of “the emperor has no clothes” and/or simply how foolish Uriel really was.
What are your thoughts?
abe said:
I thought that the woman may be a colleague, perhaps the one that the son was accusing Prof. Robinson of always standing in her way because of her affiliation with his dad.
I discounted that after I realized if it was such a known colleague, then the son would have known who she is! At one point, I thought she may be the Minister of Education that was refereed to during the discussions, but then why would she meet him on the sly instead of her office. Then I thought, and this in line with your thinking, that perhaps she might be that one lone student that attended his lecture is previous years and perhaps he kept a relationship (intimate, or not – who knows) going with her, but the son, obviously did not know her, or of her.
As far as the locker room theft goes, I think you explanation is the only and best one I got so far.