English language title - “The Human Resources Manager” / Hebrew title – “שליחותו של הממונה על משאבי אנוש “
A journey. An actual journey from one location to another, as well as one of personal discovery. That is the underlying theme of “The Human Resources Manager”. We meet the HR Manager as a work day is ending, but an emergency request from his boss, the Widow, has him investigating the allegations of a reporter regarding the death of one of the bakery’s employees. A woman has been killed in Jerusalem by a suicide bomber and she has been in the morgue, unclaimed, for a week or so and among her affects was a paycheck from the bakery. The reporter, the Weasel, threatens to write a story about the uncaring indifference of the bakery towards the death of one of its foreign workers.
The HR Manager has problems of his own – a divorce and a not-so-good relationship with his daughter, to whom he can’t keep his promises. And this inconvenient search into the circumstances surrounding the deceased woman determines that she had worked for the bakery as a cleaner on the night shift; she was fired by her night shift manager lover, but kept on the payroll by him; she was Romanian; she was actually an engineer; she had no family in Israel; and she was named Yulia. With no other recourse than to accompany the body back to Romania for return to her family and burial, the HR Manager and the reporter – the Weasel – begin the unexpected journey.
Road trip in Romania – the amusing and absurd part of the film. After arriving in Romania and finding Yulia’s ex-husband and her minor, unsocial (a kind description) son who are not legally allowed to identify her, a van full of people take Yulia’s coffin to her mother who lives days away in the mountain region of the country. The trip includes the HR Manager (who will not make it back to Jerusalem in time to take his daughter on a school trip), the Weasel (who still is negative towards the HR Manager and the bakery and who is the object of several unsuccessful ditching attempts throughout the mission), the Israeli Vice Consul (whose wife is the Consul and who goes along to be of official aide during the trip), the driver (whose license expired decades ago), and the son (who is trouble and troubled).
Although they don’t go over any rivers or through any woods to get to the grandmother’s house, obstacles of bureaucratic and mechanical natures cross the traveling party’s path. Despite the loss of the driver and an almost premature burial, the troupe eventually arrives at their destination. One positive along the way was that the HR Manager was able to establish a connection with Yulia’s son (if he could only do the same with his daughter). The grandmother appreciates the return of her daughter, but tells the HR Manager that he has made an error. So, in a different sort of vehicle, the HR Manager and Yulia begin the journey to rectify the mistake. Oh, and after one final attempt to leave him behind, it is fitting that the ever present Weasel joins in the correcting of the error.
“The Human Resources” entertains as it raises the question of where “home” really is for any individual and why some connections are made and other are not. And as much as money is a good thing to have, it may not always be the right thing to give. The film’s journey may not have any concrete conclusions, but it is the journey itself that provides the right questions to ponder.
There was a Q&A session after the screening and the participants were the director, Eran Riklis (who flew twenty hours to be at the screening) and the HR manager, Mark Ivanir (who lives in Los Angeles – wonder if his drive seemed as long as Eran’s flight?). “The Human Resources Manager” was filmed in Israel and Romania and Riklis said that being in the small Romania village, the “depression grew on them”, but it was a real human experience. The film is based on the novel A Woman in Jerusalem by Abraham B. Jehoshua and two main differences between the film and the book are, that in the book, the HR Manager’s boss is a man and Yulia’s home country is Russia. Riklis’ next project is the film “Playoff”, scheduled for release in 2011.
Film Facts: Director: Eran Riklis, Writer: Noah Stollman, Novelist: Abraham B. Jehoshua, Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann, Editor: Tova Asher, Musician: Cyril Morin, Producers: Leon Edery, Moshe Edery, Keinan Eldar, Tudor Giurgiu, Thanassis Karathanos, Talia Kleinhendler, Haim Mecklberg, Elie Meirovitz, Yogal Mogarbi, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg, Meinoff Zurhorst, Production Companies: 2-Team Productions, EZ Films, Pie Films
Film Type: Drama, Cast: Mark Ivanir (the Human Resources Manager), Gila Almagor (Widow), Reymond Amsalem (The Divorcee), Guri Alfi (Weasel), Noah Silver (The Boy), Julian Negulesco (The Vice Consul), Bogdan E. Stanoevitch (The Ex-Husband), Irina Petrescu (The Grandmother), Papil Panduru (The Driver), Danna Semo (The Secretary), Sylwia Drori (The Nun), Ofir Weil (The Morgue Worker), Roni Koren (The Daughter), Length: 103’, Languages: Hebrew, English, Romanian, Countries: Israel, Germany, France, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
Israel release date Thursday 7 October 2010
No United States release date set as of this post.
Images:
Left: Mark Ivanir as the Human Resources Manager from the website cinemotions.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “The Human Resources Manager” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “The Human Resources Manager” poster from the website smellslikescreenspirit.com
A journey. An actual journey from one location to another, as well as one of personal discovery. That is the underlying theme of “The Human Resources Manager”. We meet the HR Manager as a work day is ending, but an emergency request from his boss, the Widow, has him investigating the allegations of a reporter regarding the death of one of the bakery’s employees. A woman has been killed in Jerusalem by a suicide bomber and she has been in the morgue, unclaimed, for a week or so and among her affects was a paycheck from the bakery. The reporter, the Weasel, threatens to write a story about the uncaring indifference of the bakery towards the death of one of its foreign workers.
The HR Manager has problems of his own – a divorce and a not-so-good relationship with his daughter, to whom he can’t keep his promises. And this inconvenient search into the circumstances surrounding the deceased woman determines that she had worked for the bakery as a cleaner on the night shift; she was fired by her night shift manager lover, but kept on the payroll by him; she was Romanian; she was actually an engineer; she had no family in Israel; and she was named Yulia. With no other recourse than to accompany the body back to Romania for return to her family and burial, the HR Manager and the reporter – the Weasel – begin the unexpected journey.
Road trip in Romania – the amusing and absurd part of the film. After arriving in Romania and finding Yulia’s ex-husband and her minor, unsocial (a kind description) son who are not legally allowed to identify her, a van full of people take Yulia’s coffin to her mother who lives days away in the mountain region of the country. The trip includes the HR Manager (who will not make it back to Jerusalem in time to take his daughter on a school trip), the Weasel (who still is negative towards the HR Manager and the bakery and who is the object of several unsuccessful ditching attempts throughout the mission), the Israeli Vice Consul (whose wife is the Consul and who goes along to be of official aide during the trip), the driver (whose license expired decades ago), and the son (who is trouble and troubled).
Although they don’t go over any rivers or through any woods to get to the grandmother’s house, obstacles of bureaucratic and mechanical natures cross the traveling party’s path. Despite the loss of the driver and an almost premature burial, the troupe eventually arrives at their destination. One positive along the way was that the HR Manager was able to establish a connection with Yulia’s son (if he could only do the same with his daughter). The grandmother appreciates the return of her daughter, but tells the HR Manager that he has made an error. So, in a different sort of vehicle, the HR Manager and Yulia begin the journey to rectify the mistake. Oh, and after one final attempt to leave him behind, it is fitting that the ever present Weasel joins in the correcting of the error.
“The Human Resources” entertains as it raises the question of where “home” really is for any individual and why some connections are made and other are not. And as much as money is a good thing to have, it may not always be the right thing to give. The film’s journey may not have any concrete conclusions, but it is the journey itself that provides the right questions to ponder.
There was a Q&A session after the screening and the participants were the director, Eran Riklis (who flew twenty hours to be at the screening) and the HR manager, Mark Ivanir (who lives in Los Angeles – wonder if his drive seemed as long as Eran’s flight?). “The Human Resources Manager” was filmed in Israel and Romania and Riklis said that being in the small Romania village, the “depression grew on them”, but it was a real human experience. The film is based on the novel A Woman in Jerusalem by Abraham B. Jehoshua and two main differences between the film and the book are, that in the book, the HR Manager’s boss is a man and Yulia’s home country is Russia. Riklis’ next project is the film “Playoff”, scheduled for release in 2011.
Film Facts: Director: Eran Riklis, Writer: Noah Stollman, Novelist: Abraham B. Jehoshua, Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann, Editor: Tova Asher, Musician: Cyril Morin, Producers: Leon Edery, Moshe Edery, Keinan Eldar, Tudor Giurgiu, Thanassis Karathanos, Talia Kleinhendler, Haim Mecklberg, Elie Meirovitz, Yogal Mogarbi, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg, Meinoff Zurhorst, Production Companies: 2-Team Productions, EZ Films, Pie Films
Film Type: Drama, Cast: Mark Ivanir (the Human Resources Manager), Gila Almagor (Widow), Reymond Amsalem (The Divorcee), Guri Alfi (Weasel), Noah Silver (The Boy), Julian Negulesco (The Vice Consul), Bogdan E. Stanoevitch (The Ex-Husband), Irina Petrescu (The Grandmother), Papil Panduru (The Driver), Danna Semo (The Secretary), Sylwia Drori (The Nun), Ofir Weil (The Morgue Worker), Roni Koren (The Daughter), Length: 103’, Languages: Hebrew, English, Romanian, Countries: Israel, Germany, France, Year: 2010
Film Trailer
Israel release date Thursday 7 October 2010
No United States release date set as of this post.
Images:
Left: Mark Ivanir as the Human Resources Manager from the website cinemotions.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “The Human Resources Manager” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “The Human Resources Manager” poster from the website smellslikescreenspirit.com
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