The next film for the Vernon Film Society is Footnote, an Israeli award winner which took the best screenplay award at Cannes and no less than nine awards at the Ophir Awards (the Israeli Oscars).
The film was subsequently one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards.
The story is set in the precincts of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and concerns the intense rivalry between Eliezer (Shlomo Bar Aba) and Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi) Shkolnik, who happen to be father and son.
Eliezer is a misanthropic, stubborn purist who has never been recognized for his work. Gregarious Uriel is an up and coming star in their field of study who appears to feed on accolades, endlessly seeking recognition.
One day Eliezer hears he is to be awarded the Israeli Prize, the most valuable honour for scholarship in the country. His son is thrilled to see his father’s achievement finally recognized, but is left to choose between the advancement of his own career and his father’s.
The question “what is more important than truth” lies at the centre of this film.
Critic Roger Ebert said: “It’s one of the smartest and most merciless comedies to come along in a while. It centres on an area of fairly narrow interest, but in its study of human nature, it is deep and takes no prisoners.”
Viewers can look forward to a smart and insightful look at father and son relationships in this film and have a peek into a life in academia which most of us are unfamiliar with.
The film features some nudity.
Footnote will be screened Monday at the Towne Cinema at the usual times of 5:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $7, available at the Bean Scene and the Towne Cinema one week prior to the show and at the door.
