Time of Favor

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.