VOA标准英语2012--Israeli Movie Features Father-Son Rivalry

 Israeli Movie Features Father-Son Rivalry¹

Minister of Education: “Professor Shkolnik? Congratulations.”

Uriel Shkolnik: "Let me get this straight. You called my father by mistake?”

Academician: “And the minister congratulated him thinking she was talking to you.”

The members of the Academy ask Uriel to tell his father about the misunderstanding. 

Chairman of the Academy: “You have no right to pass this honor onto your father.”

Uriel: “But he’ll hate me.” 

Uriel Shkolnik’s father Eliezer Shkolnik is an uncompromising and awkward scholar long dismissed by his peers. His greatest recognition has been a footnote a famous expert devoted² to his work. 

Eliezer cannot swallow that his son has achieved the fame he himself sought. So, the father tells himself - and others - that he is the true scholar while his son is a fraud.

Filmmaker Joseph Cedar³ says Uriel feels he has no choice but to tolerate his father’s rancor⁴. He believes in compromise. At times, the director seems to be addressing a greater Israeli concern. 

“Compromise and Peace go hand in hand. Peace in this world is the result of compromise. Eliezer on the other hand doesn’t want harmony. He wants truth. When your father is all about truth, then your rebellion is to aspire⁵ towards peace. I'll compromise about this, you compromise about that, and we'll live in harmony. You give up some principles for the sake of harmony," Cedar said. 

Uriel Shkolnik: “I have no idea who this man is and he is my father."

Footnote deals, most of all, with father-son relationships and the human need for recognition. It also pokes⁶ fun at how scholastic⁷ debates over minutiae⁸ ignite bitter academic wars. 

Ultimately Uriel, who always sought the limelight, gives up the Prize for his father. Eliezer, on the other hand, chooses to bend the truth to win recognition. 

Cedar trains his lens on the actors' body language to enhance the unspoken tensions. The film editing is superb and so is the music. 

The film received an Oscar nomination⁹ in the foreign language category and has finally arrived in American theaters. 

1 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

4 rancor   

n.深仇，积怨

参考例句：

• I have no rancor against him.我对他无怨无仇。
• Their rancor dated from a political dogfight between them.他们的积怨来自于他们之间在政治上的狗咬狗。

5 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

6 pokes   

v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• He pokes his nose into everything. 他这人好管闲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Only the tip of an iceberg pokes up above water. 只有冰山的尖端突出于水面。 来自辞典例句

7 scholastic   

adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的

参考例句：

• There was a careful avoidance of the sensitive topic in the scholastic circles.学术界小心地避开那个敏感的话题。
• This would do harm to students' scholastic performance in the long run.这将对学生未来的学习成绩有害。

8 minutiae   

n.微小的细节，细枝末节；（常复数）细节，小事( minutia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the minutiae of the contract 合同细节
• He had memorized the many minutiae of the legal code. 他们讨论旅行的所有细节。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。