“The Human Resources Manager” is one of those hybrid films often called a dramedy or a tragicomedy. As this Israeli film begins, though — and even as it progresses — it seems more like a mystery. The man of the title (Mark Ivanir), in charge of personnel at Jerusalem’s biggest bakery, is ready to retire for the day when his boss (Gila Almagor) calls him into her office. She’s gotten notice that a newspaper is about to publish an unflattering story about the company. One of its employees was killed in a suicide bombing and days later, no one has claimed her body. She’s a temporary worker, so the immigrant has no family in Israel. A brash reporter (Guri Alfi) charges that the manager doesn’t actually care about the people under his control — it’s “inhumane” not to notice a worker is missing and to leave her body to rot in the morgue.
The manager hasn’t been performing his role well lately, in fact. He hates his job, and the wife for whom he transferred has left him. He’s growing estranged from his teenage daughter. But in searching for a final resting place for the employee he never knew, he might just learn how to live again.
| On screen |
| ‘The Human Resources Manager’ |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
| Stars: Mark Ivanir, Reymond Amsalem, Gila Almagor |
| Director: Eran Riklis |
| Rated: Not rated (suitable for most audiences) |
| Running time: 103 minutes |
Eran Riklis’ film cleverly reverses the situation. The only character named is that otherwise nameless Eastern European immigrant. (The reporter is dubbed in the credits “Weasel.0)” The manager must travel to the former Eastern Bloc to find the dead woman’s family, becoming not just uncomfortable in his native land, but uncomfortable in a new one. The daily details of living amid terror are revealed matter-of-factly. “I’m looking for one of the casualties of the bombing,” the manager tells the morgue worker. “The pizzeria?” he asks. “The marketplace.” A bombing is not a rare event here.
So why did a beautiful woman from an unnamed country — those scenes were filmed in Romania — leave her family and come to Jerusalem to die alone? There are many reasons, of course. It’s a tough place to make a life. As a nun who was one of the few in the city to know the dead woman says, “But it fills your soul.” This moving, quiet film — which won five Israeli academy awards, including best picture — shows a man who had to leave this special place to find his again.
