HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGERA tragi-comedy centered on the HR manager of Israel's largest industrial bakery, who sets out to save the reputation of his business and prevent the publication of a defamatory Article.
  
RATED M

Review by Margaret Pomeranz   

4 STARS
THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER was Israel's submission to the Academy for Best Foreign Language film. It's a wry, compassionate film about the human resources manager for a big bakery in Jerusalem, played by MARK IVANIR, who finds out that a woman who is working for them was killed a fortnight ago in a terrorist bombing. In order to avoid a scandal in the press, the owner of the bakery orders him to accompany the body back to an unnamed Balkan country to her relatives.
The bureaucratic processes make finding the relative that can sign the burial form complicated. It leads the Human Resources Manager accompanied by the woman's son, NOAH SILVER, and the journalist, GURI ALFI, who wants to expose him - into the wilds of the countryside.

The central performance from Mark Ivanir is enough to win you over in this movie, he grounds the film beautifully. And there's delight to be had from those around him, ROSINA KAMBUS as the Israeli Consul, and her driver husband, the Vice Consul, Julian NEGULSCO. But the core of the film is not just the physical journey taken by the Human Resources Manager but the emotional one. And that's true for the boy too.

It's a lovely film, a compassionate one that has a sense of humour about the world of Eastern Europe and yet a respect also. Four stars from me.