The Human Resources Manager (2010)Director: Eran Riklis
Country: Israel
Runtime:103 min
THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER is a dramedy 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. It was Israel's official entry for the 2011 Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER is a Film Movement release, runs for 103 minutes, is in Hebrew. The Human Resources Manager of Jerusalem's largest bakery is in trouble. He is separated from his wife, distanced from his daughter and stuck in a job he hates. When one of his employees, a foreign worker, is killed in a suicide bombing, the bakery is accused of indifference, and the HR Manager is sent to the victim's hometown in Romania to make amends. Far from home, on a mission to honor a woman he didn't even know but has somehow grown to admire, the HR Manager rediscovers his own humanity and his ability to truly care for human resources. Eran Riklis' THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER is based on an Israeli book that was recommended to him-A.B. Yehoshua's A Woman in Jerusalem (a New York Times notable book, and L.A. Times Book Prize winner, among other awards.) Keeping with the book, Riklis made the calculated decision not to name any of his characters (save the deceased woman inspiring the trip) but rather rely on their professions and personal attributes to identify and define them-the HR Manager, The Weasel, The Boy... These character archetypes lack a certain individuality and could, in turn, be any of us. In this act Riklis challenges the conventional and quirky road-trip movie and, in his words, creates a film that is "offbeat and kind of mainstream in a way." He calls THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER "an asymmetrical road movie." It played at numerous international film festivals, including Toronto and Palm Springs, and captured the Audience Award at the Locarno Int'l Film Festival. Riklis' film features fearless performances by a comedic ensemble cast led by the well-known Ukrainian actor Mark Ivanir, whose resumé includes Spielberg's SCHINDLER'S LIST; HOLLY ROLLERS (with Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg), and Robert De Niro's THE GOOD SHEPHERD. -- (C) Film Movement Less
