Joseph Cedar’s film Footnote (2011) examines the complex relationship between a father and son bound together by their academic field yet divided by their approaches and success. This Israeli drama, starring Shlomo Bar-Aba as Eliezer Shkolnik and Lior Ashkenazi as his son Uriel, unfolds within the quiet halls of Hebrew University’s Talmudic Research Department. Although it takes place in a very specific setting, it raises important universal questions: How much are we affected by our parents, their values, and their points of view? Can we ever truly break away from their expectations? And what is the cost of freedom—of being true to ourselves?
The Talmudic Research Department is the smallest department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Within it, working side by side, are two talented scholars: Eliezer Shkolnik and his son, Uriel Shkolnik. The former is known for his purist, old-school research methods, meticulously comparing and contrasting segments of sacred texts for decades. The latter, Uriel, is a charismatic young professor, known for his modern research methods and beloved by both academia and the general public. The film opens with a ceremony held in Uriel’s honor, as he is elected a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Eliezer, his father, sits quietly throughout the ceremony, fidgeting with his fingers, lowering his gaze to his shoes, and finally—reluctantly—stands up to applaud. This shows the unspoken tension and jealousy that can arise once a son or daughter go their separate ways, against the will of their parents.
This opening scene sets the tone for the entire film. Eliezer Shkolnik is an unpopular, stubborn, and unrecognized scholar, highly critical of the new methods used by his son and other modern researchers. After dedicating almost three decades to an incredible study that would have been his lifetime achievement, he was outdone by another scholar who published the findings just one month ahead of him. As a result, Eliezer has become more bitter, antisocial, and lonely. His sole comfort—a mere footnote acknowledging his work in a renowned professor’s book—becomes both his greatest pride and a painful reminder of his marginalization in the field to which he devoted his life. In his case, choosing his own unique path of research—a very demanding and meticulous one—came at a price.
The humanity of this film lies in the relationship between the father and son, or rather the lack of one. An invisible one, one that takes hits and blows with each award Uriel receives and each recognition he gains, almost at the expense of his father. Naturally, Uriel wants nothing more than to be accepted by his father, to have his approval. But his path is different; he wants to be a different kind of scholar—one who is part of a community, one with the ability to influence. Eliezer shuts himself in his workroom, surrounded by books, folders, and stacks of paper, wearing noise-canceling headphones; he closes himself off from the external world. Uriel doesn’t want to be that man, that father, yet he uncontrollably recreates a similar dynamic with his own son.
In its quietest moments, Footnote reveals how academic dedication can become both shield and weapon within a family. What begins as intellectual disagreement evolves into emotional distance that spans generations. The film asks us to consider the price of recognition and the wounds that form when approval is withheld. Like the marginal notes that give the film its title, the most important truths in the Shkolniks’ lives remain unspoken, relegated to the edges of their relationship—present but never fully acknowledged.
