Best movie of this year hands down!

Absolutely Fantastic

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Perhaps the dominant theme in Joseph Cedar's Time of Favor is the need for doubt, i.e., the folly, often fatal, of absolute certainty of one's righteousness.In Michal's first conversation with Menachem she notes how the Israeli men see everything in black and white, untroubled by nuances. He takes pride in quickly overcoming doubts, which serves him well as a military commander but troubles his attraction to her. Their lyrical shadowplay shows them too doubtful about their feelings to touch but open to intertwine their shadows. In a close later scene the Mossad men discuss their concern over Rabbi Meltzer's lack of doubt.In both closed male systems, the IDF and Rabbi Meltzer's militant yeshiva, the men are too absolutely certain of their righteousness to achieve justice. Indeed Meltzer insists that in war one needs to forget one's family, lover, emotions, to succeed as warrior. When the soldiers target Menachem in the tunnels at the end, as in his violent interrogation earlier, their unfounded certainty about his guilt threatens a profound injustice.When Menachem declares that Rabbi Meltzer has stolen his soul he realizes that Meltzer's domination threatens Menachem's and Michal's happiness, not to mention the general peace. Where her rejected suitor, the scholar Pini, launches a suicide bombing mission to impress the rabbi and Michal, Menachem resolves to leave the army and his command of the rabbi's military unit. He wants to live a more sensible, human life. As Michal notes, the rabbi's blind vision cost her mother's life. If a terrorist were to kill Michel, Meltzer would dismiss it as the pain on which Israel is built. Where Pini loves Michal for the Rabbi Meltzer he sees in her, Menachem's love for her exposes his mentor's dangerous folly. Michal has her father's strong will and strong sense of self but is mercifully free of his arrogance.Here's the film's crowning paradox. It's about the development of a suicide bomber in a West Bank settlement, targeting the Temple Mount, but it has nothing to do with the Palestinians. Cedar's point is that Jewish religious fanaticism and messianic fervour are as dangerous and irrational as the Palestinians'. Hence Menachem's rousing speech to his troops: in war you don't fight the enemy, you fight yourself. As it happens, that's the original meaning of the Islamic word jihad. Menachem's term to fire up his troops' dedication to Jehovah also parallels the Arabs' bloody service to Allah. To the secular Mookie, it's like a stick of dynamite up the soldier's ass. That's religious fervour for you. It fires you up — fatally and alone.Cedar frequently parallels scenes to pointed effect. In one, he cuts from Michal's solitary sabbath devotion to the barracks men rowdily and brutishly celebrating the eve. Her modest reverence contrasts to their loutish service. Among the men Menachem sits quietly contemplative, as if already decided he must choose her life over theirs. For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.

It is refreshing to see an Israeli movie that was realistic in it's portrayal of Israeli military culture. It was slow to get going at first , but then it held my attention. As an Israeli, I didn't think the dialogue was clear enough to follow at times, and often I had to refer to the English subtitles to follow . I didn't think any of the characters were drawn well enough, particularly the character of Michal.As one of the central characters of the plot ( the two men are fighting over her), there is not enough done to establish why her character generates this depth of feeling in the two men. Often Tinkerbell appears to be just reading from the script rather than acting. Aki Avni performance was very good despite the sparseness of the character as written.

This film is another in a wave of films from Israel that show the gritty reality of life there. Kippur showed us just how bloody and fruitless the 1973 war with the Arabs was (the scene of three medics trying to move one wounded soldier over a muddy field sticks in my mind as a symbol of futility), Late Marriage showed how hard it is for the children of immigrants to find their way in a secular society--Zaza, the central character is falling apart under the pressure of compliance with traditional precepts governing courtship, marriage and divorce.The character of Rabbi Meltzer seems to be based on Meir Kahane, the dangerously charismatic and violent leader. People are just pawns in a chess game for this man, and if his family doesn't comply with his wishes he'll find others who will. It's fascinating to see Michal, his daughter, start to assert her individuality after a lifetime of conformity with her father's wishes. The first indication of rebellion takes place on a mountainside overlooking the kibbutz where she grew up; she tells a bitter story of neglect and indifference to human needs that is very touching. Tinkerbell and Aki Avni are very good; Assi Dayan as the Rabbi is outstanding in his deviousness cloaked in moral fervor.

We saw this film on Friday night @ one of Chgo's premiere "art" theaters (the Landmark @ Century Center). There were maybe a dozen people in the audience besides us. Too bad. With all the horrible things going on this weekend (Easter Weekend 2002 with Arafat surrounded by Israeli troops in Ramallah is retaliation for the terrorist murder of Passover celebrants in Netanya) few films could be more relevant!But I think if you see a "love triangle" in this film, you are really missing the point.SPOILER ALERT!!! (Stop reading now if you don't want to know critical plot points!!!)Pini does not "love" Michal; Pini loves her father Rabbi Meltzer & he desperately wants the Rabbi's approval. Rabbi Meltzer intends to give Michal to Pini as a prize, signifying that Pini is his best student & probable successor. For Michal, this is just further proof that her father has no interest in her as a "person." He will easily sacrifice her to his own needs, just as he sacrificed her mother. When Michal rejects Pini, he feels humiliated in the eyes of the Rabbi & the community, & therefore he does something desperate to prove himself to the Rabbi. The model here is THE ILIAD. Achilles does not "love" Briceas (sp?) -- she is his war booty, his prize. When she is taken from him, his warrior pride is offended. It is "the wrath of Achilles" that destroys the city of Troy & Pini is filled with the same wrath.Why is this important? Because right now we all desperately need to understand the psychology of suicide bombers. In almost every case, suicide bombers are young men who need to prove themselves to their fanatical male mentors. They don't live in societies in which women & the love of women are valued. A glorious death is more important than an ordinary human life (his own included). When Itamar freezes & wants to reach out for his wife, Pini is scornful & disgusted with him.Menachem loves Michal & because he loves her, he is able to renounce the zealot's life, exchange it for the life of a mench (in Yiddish, a "real" >whole human being). She opens his eyes to what is actually being asked of him by Rabbi Meltzer -- Rabbi Meltzer doesn't just want Menachem to give up Michal, he wants Menachem to give up his humanity, to give his life to "the will of God" (as interpreted by Rabbi Meltzer, of course).Bottomline: Because Menachem sees Michal AS A PERSON, he retains his humanity. Because Pini sees Michal AS AN OBJECT, he becomes an instrument of destruction.Bye now, Jan @ Films for Two