Boy meets Talmud.  Boy falls for Talmud and devotes his whole life to it’s study.  But all he gets by way of recognition is a small footnote in someone else’s book…while his son goes on to greatness with his own research.  In Footnote, the different ways these scholars research only serves to illustrate the gulf between them.  This film is more a character study than a look inside the politics of the Israel Prize, but the seamless way director/writer Joseph Cedar blends the two creates a film that is a simple, but fascinating,  success.

Since I am by no means an expert on the Talmud (in fact the idea that I can pronounce Talmud is as far as I’ll probably ever get to knowing anything about these texts), I won’t insult scholars by getting into the thick of the debates between father and son.  Just know that as with any topic that scholars research, there are many different ways of research, and many different topics to delve into.  Eliezer Shkolnik and his son Uriel have taken two different paths of research.  The parallels to the generation gap, as well as Eliezer and Uriel’s inability to connect as father and son are hard to miss.

Eliezer is a man apart; his years of study having been made moot when another scholar swooped in and published the same information before Eliezer was able to.  After that, his ability to be an active part in the world shriveled up, and he became an also-ran in scholarly circles, and in life.  He becomes an antisocial, aloof man set in his ways and virtually unable to connect with others.  There are also problems between Eliezer and his wife, two people who are married but act like polite roommates thanks to Eliezer’s obsession with his studies over all else.  His son Uriel is is polar opposite; a man who is well-liked in social and scholarly circles, who has good friends and a loving, close relationship with his wife.  When Eliezer finally gets nominated for the Israel Prize that he has ridiculed — yet secretly longed for — it seems as if his life finally has meaning in his own eyes.  But this nomination brings an added strain to the relationship between father and son.  Meanwhile, Uriel seems destined to repeat the pattern he’s played out with his father as his own son begins to distance himself.

There are no easy answers in this film, but the dynamics between characters are amazing to watch thanks to the wonderful screenplay and brilliant performances.  The musical score can be a bit off-putting at times, with in-your-face bombast coming at viewers when a more subdued tone would have served the film better.  But that’s a minor quibble.  Getting a sneak-peek into the inner workings of Talmud scholars, their triumphs and tragedies, is enticing, and Footnote gives just enough to keep viewers aware of what’s going on, without dulling the movie with information overload.

Footnote scored the Best Screenplay award at Cannes, and was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards, and for Best Foreign Film of the Year at the Academy Awards.  This film doesn’t have the bang-boom-pow of your typical blockbuster, but as a quiet piece on human interaction and the struggle to make your life worth living, it’s an achievement.