Ha-Hesder

One of the many reasons I appreciated this movie was because it spoke of a certain truth behind the Israeli government; namely, their unique and authentic desire to protect and live side-by-side with their Arab neighbors. Although there may be army generals who could have allowed the explosion under the Dome of the Rock to take place, they no doubt would expect a massive retaliatory attack on Israel by surrounding countries resulting in instability in the region. Political and religious suicide, to be exact. However, I felt that the film depicted the soldiers acting collectively and selflessly to prevent such a tragedy to occur because their job is to protect and defend the Land of Israel, its landmarks, and citizens, including Arab-Israeli citizens.

The under ground activity is very symbolic of the underground politics of the Israel government in its efforts to deal with the political situation of the region. Like the US, there are many times civilian lives have been spared and the heroes are never known nor are the events made public.

It's hard to identify the protagonist, although Menachem is most likely the closest candidate. Depending on who is viewing the film, he may be seen as friend or foe.

The movie plot suffered slightly due to the intermediate love (lust) story involving Pini. Audiences have enough trouble keeping up with their own relationships, it's not necessary to drag them into a failure from the beginning.

Editing and lighting techniques were overlooked but forgiven because the film was shot mostly outdoors. Overall, a very well-done film and deserves 8 of 10 stars.

TIME OF FAVOR starts out as a love triangle and then switches into a thriller. It is interested in stylishly presenting both stories, so it winds up being a little long, and yet even then it's missing some setup near the beginning. The rabbi wants his daughter to marry the most brilliant of his students, but we never see even a perfunctory demonstration of that student's brilliance. The daughter falls in love with a different disciple of the rabbi's instead, but the script doesn't give them any particular reason to fall in love. It almost looks less like the real thing on the girl's part than like simple rebellion against her father... but it's supposed to be the real thing, or the plot doesn't have sufficient fuel. The thriller section proceeds well; the situations are sold to us by some of Israel's best character actors. All in all, the film was crafted well enough to kick off a writing/directing career (not an easy thing to do in Israel) that has been going strong for Joseph Cedar over more than twenty years now.

This is the first Israeli film I have seen and I really wanted to get to know more about the citizens via this route. Though I did learn some things, it isn't enough to recommend. The director presumes the audience knows the situation and all the locales. Though I keep up with the news daily, I just couldn't identify with the West Bank settlers. The undertone of religious renegades and dark collusion just wasn't filmed correctly. The scenes kept jumping around and I wanted to call the editor and ask why there couldn't be more of a flow to the sequences. I am looking forward to seeing more Israeli productions. Perhaps I can learn more of that beseiged society that I didn't feel here.

Israeli settlement, yeshiva with a dangerous, charismatic rabbi, and a military unit of devout young orthodox Jews. Combination of fundamentalist approach to faith and proximity of weapons, always a very bad idea.Mix in two young men and the rebellious daughter of the above-mentioned rabbi Meltzer, and there we have a love triangle. I usually thoroughly enjoy Israeli cinematography known for its freshness and creativity, but " Time of Favor" falls short. Could be the lack of knowledge about the Orthodox branch of Judaism on my part ( i am not Jewish), or possibly the muddled vision of the director. I am not sure, but what's left is a tackle on this universal problem of religious fundamentalists who, of course believing that they are the only ones with the right answers, feel obliged to demolish everybody else. Sad state of affairs but not enough for a movie.

Joseph Cedar's directing debut garnered the Israeli Academy Award and early Academy Foriegn Film recognition for a good reason. It is a good film. Unlike recent Israeli exports, Haesder or Time of Favor as it is titled in English is technically superb and fluid in how it delivers its story line. The very talented Aki Avni plays Menachem, a religious soldier. He is a disciple of his local rabbi who believes in settling areas in Jerusalem that are in conflict. The rabbi is played by Israeli actor/director and son of war hero Moshe Dayan- Asi Dayan. The rabbi promises his daughter to another of his disciples and a friend of Menachem's- a religious scholar named Pini. Meanwhile a love triangle develops. Inrtigue and action come into play and the end culminates with brilliant rhythmn and suspense. The film is shot superbly considering its relative low budget and the production value is high. Many of the military sequencesand scenes are reminiscent of THREE KINGS, and the score is Yanni-esque and adds a middle eastern flavor to this politically significant and turbulent movie. I reccomend this movie highly without reservations. It should be seen, I saw it in a large movie theatre and was moved as was the rest of the audience.