The best movies about family dynamics that I've seen over the last couple of years have been
A Separation (Iran) and Footnote (Israel). Both these movies show how complicated relationships are - how one person can be both good and bad, and how impossible it can be to do the right thing. What is the right thing? Would you know it if it bit you in the butt?
In Footnote we meet two male Shkolnick family members - father and son - Eliezer and Uriel. Both teach Talmudic studies, but the father has toiled in obscurity and the son has become a star. The father is obviously bitter and jealous of the son. The son loves being a celebrity. When the father mistakenly gets a call informing him he has won a hugely prestigious prize, he starts to celebrate. Unfortunately, the call was supposed to go to the son. What's the right thing in this situation?
This is a great story, well-filmed and well-acted. It has a jaunty attitude and excellent pacing, and I really loved the ending. Pick it up. The director is Joseph Cedar, and I need to see what else he's done.
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