User reviews

The TV guide described TIME OF FAVOUR as thus:

" A rabbi's daughter must choose between the man she loves and the man her father wants her to marry "

So I sat down to watch a movie that I expected to be a romantic drama , and being an Israeli film I also expected to see some secular Vs religious politics . But this isn't what I got . For the most part the story does indeed play out as a love triangle between the rabbi's daughter on one hand and two friends in the IDF on another , but then about two thirds of the way through it becomes clear that this is a political thriller featuring a bomb plot not too different from something Bruce Willis might have appeared in several years ago . When I say becomes clear I mean after one of the character's gets a bloody good kicking off the Shin Bett , up to this point I was asking myself where on Earth the movie was heading

There's two ways of looking at this . One is that TIME OF FAVOR is a highly complex film , the other being that it's a highly unfocused one . I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it's complex one . It should also be pointed out that if you have absolutely no knowledge or interest of Israeli politics or culture clash you will be at a loss trying to understand this movie , though it's difficult to imagine someone watching a movie in Hebrew - albeit in subtitles - who doesn't have any interest in Israel

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.

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.

Very good Israeli film. Simply told story based on a good script, good cast selection, good directing, good cinematography, good music, and last but not least - good actors.

As if Israeli cinema professionally is already mature enough, it is time some Israeli filmmaker to get Oscar. As if slightly Academy ignores Israeli cinema, or at least movies like this left such an impression.

It does not need a film to be a unique masterpiece to delight the viewer. A well-told story by means of professional good cinema will do the job, as in this case.

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.

"Time of Favor" seems to be an earnest attempt to tell a somewhat mundane tale, as films go, of a religious military man who has to weigh matters of faith with conscience, love with duty, sacrifice with fulfillment, etc. - nothing particularly new. The film comes off like a low budget indie with obvious cost cutting throughout and muddles the core issues with too much busy work. Somewhat esoteric, Israelis would better empathize with the circumstances and probably glean more from the cultural subtleties. A gentile who's never been to Israel, I found the film to be marginally interesting, minimally entertaining, and anticlimactic. (C)

Note - The cover of the DVD I rented bore a quote from the Village Voice calling this film "exotic"..."erotic"...."highly atmospheric". I wonder if they saw the same movie. The one I watched was only exotic because it was a foreign film from Israel, had no sex (one kiss), and the atmospherics were ordinary at best. Moral - beware the box cover B.S.

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.

When watching this film I was very astonished at how much potential could have existed for the plot that was given, yet how badly the actual film was executed. The basic plot seemed very interesting, but for many reasons, the portrayal was a failure. It seemed to have lost direction on a large scale.

None of the characters involved seem real or convincing in their roles, and often there seemed to be a sense of passionless acting that bogged the film down. Also, too much plot was happening all at once so that it was hard to follow the progression of the film. Large, unexplained character shifts and a certain sense of dark, dreary boredom plagued the film.

I found the film to be very lacking, tedious, and something that I would recommend to no one.

In a West Bank settlement a Rabbi has risen up to get his own following. It is Rabbi Meltzer's plan to build the temple and he has formed his own military unit under the command of Menachem, on of his disciples. Meanwhile one of Menachem's men, Pini, is called to meet the Rabbi's daughter, Michal, so that their marriage can be arranged. However Michal rejects Pini as she has fallen for Menachem.

Other reviewers here have criticised this film for not giving them the understanding of the politics around the area, however I consider this a very unfair accusation. This film is not about the situation; it may have some subtexts that comment on it but generally the film struck me as a thriller based around several characters. As such (and I can only review it as such) I found it to be quite effective at points but also to be rather slow at others. As a thriller there were plenty of good moments – either tense, running with guns moments or good revelations or twists around the characters; however at other times it was too slow and seemed to drag to include at attempt at subtext or commentary that it didn't need (or certainly didn't do enough with).

Outside of this the story is pretty good even if you ignore some of the character's motivations. I must admit to being a bit lost as to why Michal took the path she did with such vigour while Pini was a mystery to me; but ignoring the weaker turns helped me focus on the dramatic flow, flawed though it was. The direction is good even though the budget clearly would not compare to your average Hollywood thriller. I had never seen any of the cast in anything before and they were pretty average on the whole. The only performances that stood out for me were Avni's Menachem and Volf's Mookie – both had good presence.

Overall this is not a great film but it more or less works as a watchable little thriller based around several characters. The story may have plenty of flaws but it moves along well enough save for a few dull patches. It won't teach you anything about the region and it's occasional attempts to pass comment only serve to take away from the main story which could have been a lot pacier and exciting without Meltzer's preaching.

This movie is a good benchmark to judge other movies: it was ALMOST good and ALMOST poor as it loses the viewer and then ALMOST recovers its mistakes. Relying on subtitles often made the story difficult to understand as they quickly flashed and disappeared. Hence, the visual was more important than interpreting the dialogue. The script's development of ambience and culture and human conflicts are either too skimpy or awkwardly placed in the flow of things. I am of the opinion that only Spanish films compete with the film subtitle speed.

Not having visited Israel, I was as interested in the captured geography and visuals as I was the story. So, I was too often left outside of the vision of the writer. Having said that, it was a ALMOST an average picture that was not that convincing in its telling and managed to get to the ending credits.

I love action movies, and this was one of the best I have ever seen. I am colored by my love of Israel. This movie had magnificent scenes of Israel and Israeli life as a backdrop for the fabulous action movie that just kept on going. SEE IT!

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.

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.