Time of Favor

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Favor</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 146 WIDTH="495"><div> <IMG SRC="131d638c0.jpg" border=0 width="99" height="140" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000694XO/reelmoviecriticc"> Time of Favor on DVD</A>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Time of Favor </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êê</B></FONT><B>1/2   (No Rating)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By David Spielman</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Inner - Terrorism</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Menachem: Aki Avni</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Itamar: Micha Selektar</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Michal: Tinkerbell</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Pini: Edan Alterman</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Director and writer: Joseph Cedar</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: Menachem is a highly respected orthodox leader of a small army unit on the West Bank of Jerusalem. When Menachem gets into a love triangle with his rabbi's daughter and his best friend Pini, jealousy evolves and Menachem is forced to weigh his alliances and everything he has ever believed in. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Menachem pursues his orthodox Jewish studies in a temple on Jerusalem's West Bank. His synagogue is led by the charismatic Rabbi Meltzer, whose preaching's can easily be misinterpreted as extremist remarks. As much as Menachem likes the Rabbi, he is often looked upon by Menachem's army unit as a complex fanatic who could lead his students into a dangerous place. Menachem's best friend, Pini, is Rabbi Meltzer's favorite student and in exchange the Rabbi hopes his own daughter Michal, will love and marry Pini. </div> <bR> <div> Pini falls deep in love with Michal, but Michal is not attracted to Pini. She is in love with Menachem. Menachem is also in love with Michal, but to avoid hurt feelings they must keep their love a secret from the Rabbi and Pini. Yet as time passes, Pini feels betrayed by his best friend and by the Rabbi's daughter and takes the Rabbi's preachings too far. </div> <bR> <div> As a hateful act of vengeance, Pini convinces Itamar (Menachem's other best friend and member of the small army unit) to organize a secret plan to destroy the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem by using explosives and traveling through tunnels underneath Temple Mount. </div> <bR> <div> As a result of Pini's plan, the Israeli secret service and army officials become highly suspicious of the Rabbi and of the students involved in Menachems army unit, especially Menachem. After being set up by Pini, Menachem is mistakenly accused of stealing explosives from the army and is charged with planning to use them to explode Arab Holy sites in Jerusalem. After being violently interrogated by the secret service about the missing explosives, Menachem must battle to prove his innocence. But indeed to prove his innocence, Menachem is forced to question his faith in his religion, love and everything he has ever believed in. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: <I>Time of Favor</I><B> </B>has its strong points and its weak points. The stronger points of the movie include the acting and an interesting plot which brings up some intriguing questions about Israel today. The weaker points of the movie are the suspense and thriller elements of the film. </div> <bR> <div> The acting is all top notch. Aki Avni as Menachem was a very good choice. He is very convincing as a respected officer who only wants to do his job and stay focused on his religion. When he is questioned about plans to bomb parts of Jerusalem by the secret service, you can see the innocence of a good man in his eyes. Also very good is Tinkerbell, a phenomenon in Tel-Aviv, as the Rabbi's daughter. She is believable as a girl who wants to live her life by her own choices, not by her father's. Edan Alterman as Pini, is good at creating a vision of a pathetic and love struck individual, but it is hard to imagine this thin, small character as a violent Jewish extremist. </div> <bR> <div> The movie also raises some interesting questions about Israel's political state today. Current news stories are usually about other Middle Eastern countries terrorizing Israel. Yet in this movie, the terrorist is a Jewish extremist who takes his Rabbi much too seriously. As the movie evaluates political tensions in Israel, it is trying to explain that even the most innocent person can become tricked into participating in violent terrorism. It is a scary vision, but you understand the point Cedar is trying to get across. Yet as much as I found his point intriguing, it also hurt the film when used to make the movie seem like a thriller and action picture towards the end. </div> <bR> <div> The thriller elements and action sequences which take place during the film's last third seem forced and unconvincing. The motive for Pini's plan, his best friend having a relationship with the girl he loves, does not fit as a motive for a helpless individual to kill hundreds maybe thousands of innocent Israelis. The last third basically takes place in the underground tunnels of Jerusalem as Menachem, Michal, and other members of the army search for the suicidal Pini. What ensues here is predictable and unbelievable, which lessens the impact of the film. Yet overall the film does bring some good points about political tensions in Israel today and about questioning your own faith. Would Menachem question his commitment to being an orthodox Jew after seeing how his Rabbi's preachings could be misinterpreted as extremist ranting? That is a good question and what Cedar is trying to get across is that we all seek religion to help guide us and make us feel more secure about ourselves, but does religion ever go too far? That is up for you to decide.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Time of Favor</I> won six Israeli Academy awards including best picture, best screenplay, best actor, best actress, best cinematography and best editing.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Not rated (violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> David Spielman © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Djdave14@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Djdave14@aol.com"><U>David@reelmoviecritic.com</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Aki Avni: Television series `'Basic Training''</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Edan Alterman: Electric Blanket</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="341"><div> Tinkerbell: Total Love</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Joseph Cedar: Debut film</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>