The Human Resources Manager
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The Human Resources Manager sp A woman is killed in a terrorist suicide bombing in Jerusalem but her body is not immediately identified until a paystub found in her belongings places her as working for a large industrial bakery. A newspaper reporter (Guri Alfi) writes a story suggesting that the bakery should have noticed that she wasn’t coming to work and something must have happened to her. The Human Resources Manager( Mark Ivanir) is given the job by his boss to identify her, notify the family who is in Romania and avoid bad publicity for the company. The screenplay by Noah Stillman is based on a novel titled A Woman in Jerusalem by the well known Israeli writer Abraham B. Jehoshua which we both happened to have read several months ago. The book had the leisure to show in depth the feelings that the HR manager developed for this deceased woman as he learned more about her. It was able to depict the complex character of this man as he attempted to return the body to her family. While veteran actor Invanir did an admirable job of trying pull it off, director Evan Riklis orchestrated a tragic comedy which turned in to a road movie rather than a story of a tragic death which slowly reveals the victim and her postmortem impact on people. The film is choppy at times although it moves the story with this unusual plot. In order to give someone who has read the book a worthwhile experience, the movie needs to either capture many of the fine points of the story or present a unique refreshing aspect of it. In our opinion, this film did neither so it will probably disappoint those who read the book but may intrigue those who approach it with a fresh mind. The film was mostly in Hebrew with subtitles, while English was spoken occasionally. There was a  subtle movie score by Cyril Morin who attempted to weave a faint suggestion of gypsy music against the bleak Romanian background. (2011)
Category: 3 Stars, Drama | Tags: 2011, A Woman in Jerusalem, Abraham B. Jehoshua, Alfi Guri, Cyril Morin, Evan Riklis, Israel, Marj Ivanir, Noah Stillman, Romania, The Human Resources Manager Comment »