Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Footnote Blu-ray Movie Review

Make a note to see this extraordinary film.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 24, 2012

This is a very nice idea.

Through the middle stretch of Footnote, well-versed cinephiles might make the connection between Director Joseph Cedar's film and Goodbye, Lenin!; both tell the story of a stubborn, difficult person living a lie as those around them keep up an illusion of the lie for the fundamental well-being of the person in question. Goodbye, Lenin! is a wonderfully funny film, but Footnote differs from that picture with its more balanced tone, delivering heartfelt drama, high inter-character intensity, and subtle humor to construct an electric story of a man finally earning what he believes to be his rightful place in the history books, but with a twist. Footnote is the beneficiary of a quick, honest, and pitch-perfect script; fabulous performances; precise direction; and a rhythm that keeps audiences anticipating how the story will unfold. It's a near perfect movie, one with everything in order that rises so far above the cinema norm that viewers might be startled by just how good a movie of such simple ambitions can really be.

Son and father.

Eliezer Shkolnik (Shlomo Bar Aba) is a distinguished scholar whose life work has centered around his research of the Talmud. He's head of the tiny Jewish Studies Department at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Unfortunately, his life is defined by ruin rather than riches. He spent his entire adult life working diligently to prove his theories on and piece together the clues surrounding an older version of the Talmud. Years of research yielded enough material for Eliezer to put together a convincing, detailed scholarly work, but as fate would have it, another man accidentally unearthed a tome that provided immediate proof of the same findings. Yehuda Grossman (Micah Lewensohn) published word of his discovery a month ahead of Eliezer, effectively destroying a lifetime's worth of research and any chance to be recognized in his field. In fact, his greatest academic accomplishment is mention in a footnote in a text titled Introduction to Text Versions of Talmudic Literature. Now, Eliezer cannot find students to enroll in his classes and Grossman has become a recognized, influential scholar who also happens to serve as the head of the committee that selects the annual winner of the Israel Prize, an honor for which Eliezer has been yearning for two decades, two long, difficult decades that have taken a serious toll on his mental well-being.

Indeed, Eliezer has become an alienated man. He's anti-social, sleeps alone in his study rather than with his wife, and refuses to acknowledge the accomplishments of his own son Uriel (Lior Ashkenazi), himself a highly successful scholar but of a new generation of thinkers, researchers, and educators of which Eliezer deeply disapproves. Uriel, unlike his father, is a hugely popular professor and well-liked by his colleagues. Though their relationship has grown somewhat distant, Uriel annually nominates his father for the Israel Prize, knowing that his future happiness depends on winning the award. Finally, Eliezer receives the telephone call he's always wanted: he's to be awarded the prize. Suddenly, his mood changes. He's visibly happy for the first time in decades. He's social, excited, ready to tackle the world. But there's a problem: Eliezer hasn't really won. A simple clerical error resulted in an assistant to the Minister of Education contacting Eliezer rather than the actual winner, his son Uriel. Can the committee save face and overcome the mistake? Will the Israel Prize ever be the same? More importantly, can Uriel convince the committee to award his father, to overlook past conflict, and to almost literally save his life?

Footnote proves absorbing from its opening moments, prompting audiences to question the dynamics between the characters, to ponder their individual situations, to reflect on a wealth of critical information provided by a single, static reactionary shot that delivers more depth and nuance than minutes of dialogue or action possibly could. Indeed, much of what makes Footnote such a wonderful film is how much strength and storytelling mastery it finds through a simple tale and startlingly fundamental direction, the latter simply often lingering, the camera digging into the souls, finding the subtleties of the performances that give shape to the exterior exactnesses that superficially shape the performances. Footnote will dazzle audiences that can appreciate simplicity defined. This is the quintessential character film. It tells a basic story of mistaken identity, but it does so with unimaginably deep and exceptionally well-drawn characters, making the movie and the story feel significantly larger than it really is.

Footnote is the beneficiary of excellent direction and a good story populated by compelling characters, but perhaps more than any other element it's the performances that truly elevate Footnote from merely excellent to exemplary. There's a wonderful sense of distance between Eliezer and Uriel, a distance that comes not from physical separation but rather long-strained emotional detachment, the sort that just cannot be written into a script but that must be genuinely acted. There's an uncanny sense of divided family, of deep and underlying pains and fissures evident throughout, but there's also a tenderness, evidenced by Uriel's efforts to give his father what it is his soul lacks, knowing that to be the only way to bring closure to the darkness he's known for the better part of his life. It's an act of both selflessness and selfishness, Uriel passing on the prize but doing so for the sake of himself and the well-being of his family. Lior Ashkenazi's work as Uriel dazzles in every scene, notably in an intense exchange with Grossman and the Israel Prize nominating committee in a cramped closet midway through the film, a scene that captures the very essence of the movie, where all of the pieces that make it shine -- the wonderful characters, standout acting, the pitch-perfect script, and the steady but penetrating direction -- all come together in one brilliant sequence. Shlomo Bar-Aba also dazzles as the deeply wounded, shut-off father; his obsession haunts and his past hurts. It's a stunning performance of a man worn down by the perceived unfairness of life and lifted up when he believes justice to finally be found.

Footnote Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Footnote features another excellent Blu-ray transfer from Sony. This latest 1080p image offers a fine film-like appearance. Light grain remains throughout, accentuating quality, smooth details at every corner of each frame. The image captures natural facial textures, clothing lines, and odds and ends around the various sets with natural precision. Generally, the image remains crisp and accurate, never overly sharp and only rarely a bit on the soft side. Colors are excellent, very balanced and natural, just like the detailing. Whether all the books in the library during the opening shot, all of the clothes seen throughout the film, or the grays and whites inside the committee's closet, the transfer enjoys a rich palette that always commands visual respect. Blacks are rich and deep, while flesh tones are accurate. There are no visual anomalies of which to speak, whether banding, blocking, edge enhancement, or print wear. In short, this is a very strong, visually appealing image from Sony.

Footnote Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Footnote features the Sony-standard DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, and the results are also Sony-standard excellent. Listeners will enjoy a generously spacious, rich, and lifelike sonic presentation, the kind that's naturally immersive and pleasant. Music delivery is so smooth that listeners might be fooled into believing that their speakers have been replaced by a real-life orchestra. The sound is absolutely big yet crisp, very accurate through the whole range and solidified by a prominent but true low end. Environments spring to life with ease. Applause fills the soundstage, chatter from a crowded room floats about the listening area, and natural outdoor ambience easily enters the media room. A couple of racquetball games deliver the biggest sonic sensation through the film; the heavy sound of ball smacking on the walls and floors is absolutely realistic as it emerges from every corner of the stage with pinpoint accuracy. Dialogue is true and smooth, flowing naturally from the center channel. This is a very well engineered track that easily and enthusiastically brings the movie to brilliant sonic life.

Footnote Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Footnote contains two features and a trailer.

• Behind the Scenes of Joseph Cedar's Film: Footnote (480p, 24:01): An overview piece that looks at the actors and their work, behind the scenes glimpses at the making of various scenes, clips from the film, discussions of the plot and themes, making the soundtrack, Shlomo Bar-Aba's work history and initial fear of taking on another project, and more. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
• An Evening with Joseph Cedar (1080p, 9:35): The director fields a series of questions concerning the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p, 2:00).
• Footnote Soundtrack (1080p): A static advertisement for the film's soundtrack.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.

Footnote Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Footnote is easily one of the year's best films, foreign or otherwise. It's cinema perfection, drama refined, and a pleasure to behold. The film tells a simple yet very well-drawn story and captivates audiences with remarkably deep and nuanced characters, brilliant performances, and astoundingly nuanced direction. It's a total package of honest drama, light comedy, and fascinating character studies. The entirety of Footnote enjoys an uncanny completeness that should satisfy audiences in search of character-driven cinema. Sony's Blu-ray release of Footnote impresses. As usual, the studio has delivered a new release Blu-ray with high quality picture and sound components. A couple of extras round out one of the year's better all-around Blu-ray releases. Very highly recommended.