Time of Favor (2000)

Well Deserved Praise

An unexpected masterpiece

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

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.

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.

When I saw the DVD of this at Blockbuster, I thought it would be interesting for I am interested in the West Bank in Israel and the people who live there (called "settlers" because they live in so called "Arab" land, which is really Jewish land). It is about a rabbi who runs his own Israeli military unit in the West Bank. The rabbi's favorite Hebrew student is in love with the rabbi's daughter, while the daughter is really in love with a dashing young military unit leader. The film is basically the soldiers hanging around, doing military training, while the rabbi's student tries to get with his daughter while the daughter is trying to get with the unit leader. It is a drama-less love triangle until the end, when they find that several large quantities of explosives have been stolen from the military depot and it turns out that the rabbi's student is going to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem so that the Jewish Temple can be rebuilt there (the 3,000 year-old temple destroyed by the Romans). So basically, the end comes and the soldiers find the student underneath the mosque and shoot him before he can detonate the explosives. This is like many other European and Middle Eastern films, it has more to do with scenery and art than with actual drama. It won Best Picture at the Israeli National Film Awards and I can believe it, but it is generally boring unless you are absolutely crazy about love-triangle films. See this if you like foreign films, but if you are looking for a true drama, see something else. This is a good film but it feels like something is missing

"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.