Joseph Cedar's "Footnote" refuses to be easily categorized. This writer pegs it as the offspring of an uneasy marriage between Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the Coen Brothers, cira "Barton Fink," inhabiting a world where emotions frequently bend and shape reality. Probably the most nerve-wracking film ever made about men studying the Talmud, a vital text that serves as the first written record of Jewish Oral Law and rabbinical discussion that would shape the culture and faith for centuries onward, "Footnote" opens whimsically but loses that playfulness quickly. The transformation lends the picture a hardened edge, until a rapid descent into great tragedy makes for an intensely memorable final fifteen minutes.
Primarily the story of a father and son locked in competition, "Footnote" concerns aging academic Eliezer Shkolnik (a definite injoke for Russian-speaking Israelis - "shkolnik" is Russian for "student"), played by Israeli theater actor Shlomo Bar Aba. Eliezer is a life-long philologist,...
Primarily the story of a father and son locked in competition, "Footnote" concerns aging academic Eliezer Shkolnik (a definite injoke for Russian-speaking Israelis - "shkolnik" is Russian for "student"), played by Israeli theater actor Shlomo Bar Aba. Eliezer is a life-long philologist,...
- 3/9/2012
- by Mark Zhuravsky
- The Playlist
Given this year's Competition selections, the most competitive race might be for worst of the fest: If such a low honor existed, the Palme d'Ud, Free Zone would be a front-runner.
A road picture mired by unsteady camera work, lackadaisical pacing and cumbersome speechmaking, Free Zone is an excruciating cinematic trek. Israeli director Amos Gitai's narrative, both visually and conversationally, is a disappointing dud.
In this philosophical/political excursion a 23-year-old American, Rebecca (Natalie Portman) inveigles a ride with an Israeli woman, Hanna (Hanna Laslo) who is driving to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a big sum of money owed her husband by "the American."
Along the way Hanna relates the hard life she and her husband have endured in Israel, always eking out a living amid the wars and the dislocations. These ruminations, which endear us to the lively Hanna, are nonetheless rambling and redundant, yet unfortunately in sync with Gitai's visual aesthetic: The camera gropes and lingers on the most pedestrian scenery, often floundering around to include such irrelevant arcana as camel shots. Visually, Free Zone resembles a home movie in which an overly enthusiastic vacationer records every moment of a mundane trip.
In short, Gitai's unsure directorial hand enervates whatever political or thematic points are crammed into this political tract. Eventually, the duo links up with Leila, a lively Palestinian woman who explains that "the American" has vanished.
Despite the deficiencies of the direction, the performances are a zone above: Laslo is empathetic as the beleagured and undeniably bellicose Israeli woman, while Hiam Abbass sparkles as the Palestinian woman who carries her own tribulations. Portman is essentially a Tonto character, a receptacle for Hanna's rants and musings.
The unimaginative and poorly rendered technical contributions are largely irritations.
Free Zone
BAC Films
Agat Films & Cie, Agav Films, Agav Hakafot, Golem, Artemis, Cineart
Credits: Director: Amos Gitai; Screenwriters: Amos Gitai, Marie Jose Sanselm; Cinematographer: Laurent Brunet; Production designer: Miguel Makrin; Editor: Isabelle Ingold; Sound designer: Michel Kharat, Alex Claude, Stephane Thiebaut. Cast: Rebecca: Natalie Portman; Hanna: Hanna Laslo; Leila: Hiam Abbass.
No MPAA rating, running time 94 minutes...
A road picture mired by unsteady camera work, lackadaisical pacing and cumbersome speechmaking, Free Zone is an excruciating cinematic trek. Israeli director Amos Gitai's narrative, both visually and conversationally, is a disappointing dud.
In this philosophical/political excursion a 23-year-old American, Rebecca (Natalie Portman) inveigles a ride with an Israeli woman, Hanna (Hanna Laslo) who is driving to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a big sum of money owed her husband by "the American."
Along the way Hanna relates the hard life she and her husband have endured in Israel, always eking out a living amid the wars and the dislocations. These ruminations, which endear us to the lively Hanna, are nonetheless rambling and redundant, yet unfortunately in sync with Gitai's visual aesthetic: The camera gropes and lingers on the most pedestrian scenery, often floundering around to include such irrelevant arcana as camel shots. Visually, Free Zone resembles a home movie in which an overly enthusiastic vacationer records every moment of a mundane trip.
In short, Gitai's unsure directorial hand enervates whatever political or thematic points are crammed into this political tract. Eventually, the duo links up with Leila, a lively Palestinian woman who explains that "the American" has vanished.
Despite the deficiencies of the direction, the performances are a zone above: Laslo is empathetic as the beleagured and undeniably bellicose Israeli woman, while Hiam Abbass sparkles as the Palestinian woman who carries her own tribulations. Portman is essentially a Tonto character, a receptacle for Hanna's rants and musings.
The unimaginative and poorly rendered technical contributions are largely irritations.
Free Zone
BAC Films
Agat Films & Cie, Agav Films, Agav Hakafot, Golem, Artemis, Cineart
Credits: Director: Amos Gitai; Screenwriters: Amos Gitai, Marie Jose Sanselm; Cinematographer: Laurent Brunet; Production designer: Miguel Makrin; Editor: Isabelle Ingold; Sound designer: Michel Kharat, Alex Claude, Stephane Thiebaut. Cast: Rebecca: Natalie Portman; Hanna: Hanna Laslo; Leila: Hiam Abbass.
No MPAA rating, running time 94 minutes...
- 5/20/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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