The Human Resources Manager (2010)

A Major Disappointment

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A real disappointment after the DVD jacket gave raves. Most of the effort was insincere and the whole plot of the movie was weak to me. Why would a company feel any moral, social or legal obligation to look after a former employee? Communication with the public would have set things in order and prevented any sense of obligation and insincerity. I also felt the movie was very disconnected in terms of flowing from one locale to another. It went from one country to another with my having to figure out what country they were in. There were some tender moments but I found the movie a huge let down from beginning to end. The only positive I felt was seeing a bit more about the various cultures in the film. But where movie production was concerned, it was clear that the producer was not American because the quality was not on the level that Americans expect. I rate it as one of the third worst movies I've seen.

A man who gradually lost his way, in contact with other people with the same problem, remembers what is really important. When you sum it up like this it sounds very trite and predictable. Fortunately this movie isn't. Former military man who runs the human resources in the bakery like a war operation, has to accompany the body of a former employee back to unnamed Eastern European country( to those who can read it is obviously Romania). Stark, desolate landscape, country in transition and general lack of hope. Gray, flat land, gray post-socialist buildings and people seemingly gray, too, but only at first sight. There are bright colors of strong emotions, pale shades of despair and shockingly strong bursts of uncontrolled anger. All primal and deeply necessary to keep us alive, no matter what forsaken part of the world we were unfortunate to be born in. There is only one life and one skin and only as much blood and tears we can shed, and as much joy we can sustain before the inevitable end.

The Human Resources Manager (2010), directed by Eran Riklis, is a film that starts off with the death of a Romanian immigrant in Israel. Although her death was not work-related, an investigative reporter--"The Weasel"--decides to publicize the case as an example of the cold-hearted approach of the company to its employees. (The company officials did not realize that she had died.) To counteract the negative publicity, the human resources manager is sent to accompany the body to Romania, and to arrange for burial. Of course, The Weasel shows up in Romania as well.Naturally, complications ensue. The complications make up the real plot of the film. The HR Manager is out of his element, doesn't speak Romanian, and is a Jew among Christians. He is trying to act in good faith, but personal problems, mechanical problems, and religious problems continue to obstruct progress.This isn't a bad film, but it's somewhat formulaic, and not always very funny. The acting is good, especially that of Mark Ivanir as the HR manager and Guri Alfi as The Weasel. There are some humorous moments, but the grim, unhappy moments outweigh them. This wasn't really a memorable film for me. It's worth seeing if it comes your way, but I wouldn't seek it out. We saw it at the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival, in the wonderful Dryden theater at George Eastman house. However, there's no reason it shouldn't work as well on the small screen.

I thought that this is a very good movie, and it can make a good candidate for the foreign language Academy Awards. The storyline is based on a novel titled 'A woman in Jerusalem' by one of the better known Israeli authors, A.B. Yehoshua. I have not read the book, but I am told that the story in the novel takes place in Siberia, whereas the film (or most of it) takes place in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. The English title is misleading, the full title in Hebrew means 'The mission of the Human Resources Manager'. A Romanian worker of a very large industrial bakery in Jerusalem is killed in a terrorist attack and is taken to the morgue; a journalist finds out that a salary slip found on her is from the bakery and writes an article blaming her workplace of lacking humanity. Driven by this bad publicity, the bakery sends its HR manager with the mission to "do the right thing" and take care of the proper burial of Iulia Petrache in her home country. However, things are not that simple. For a burial papers need to be signed by the next of kin, and a quest starts for the next of kin, the first one being her husband. However, it turns out that her husband is actually her ex-husband, and her son is still a minor, and the only eligible next of kin is her mother who lives very far, high up in the mountains. So the HR manager decides to get there and do the right thing, bury her in her childhood village, although he had the opportunity to take a shortcut and bury here en route. The intricate story line actually develops into a story of human relationships between total strangers. The journalist travels with the HR manager, and along the way they pick up Iulia's rebel son and travel to their distant destination in the company of weird people. There is humor and drama in these relationships, and the initial mutual animosity and contempt develop into a weird friendship. There are many twists and turns in the story and they all add to a movie that keeps the audience in constant suspense about what happens next. The characters, even the minor ones, are well played, and although some of the situations are practically impossible, overall the story line gets the viewer involved not only in the tragedy of Iulia's death but also in the tragedies of each of the other characters: the HR manager and his shattered family life, the orphan teenager and his bad relationship with his father, the bakery's night shift manager, and finally, the encounter with Iulia's mother who says that Iulia was unhappy in the village. This movie is very close to being a masterpiece. The cinematography is amazing and the camera goes into small details, such as a herd of geese crossing the road on the Romanian countryside. The only happy people in the movie seem the be the Israeli consular representative and her husband, and they provide some comic relief for the otherwise tragic situations. Highly recommended.