Search - The Policeman on DVD

A light-hearted comedy, subtle and bittersweet!

Rizzo | Denver, CO | 01/31/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It took me two tries to watch this, once while sleepy and the other fully awake. I am glad that I watched it the second time, I understood the subtle humor and the clever storyline. I do see now why it was nominated for Best Foreign Film, especially since I have seen worse nominations. But, it lost to The Garden Of The Finzi Continis, a film by Vittorio De Sica. It is difficult to compete against a De Sica film.



The premise is that a long-time Israeli policeman Azulai, is a good cop, a nice guy, religious, good family man, loves his wife. He had morals with decency. More often, his police skills were questionable as he did not arrest people, but usually letting them go, especially with easy persuading. The gem is to watch him in action. People may associate him with Barney Fife when they observe his style.



To his police force, he was looked at as too nice, rather bumbling and without initiative. In general, in the eyes of the police force, he wasn't worthy. Therefore, his contract was not going to be renewed. At a low rank, he could not retire. So, a scheme is in the making to make him look better.



The special features does have some work of the director, Ephraim Kishon. Subtitles are nice and easy to read. The film preserves well to DVD. I consider this a subtle and lighthearted comedy. But don't expect any wham bam bang up slapstick comedy. It is the depth of the story that in a whole is humorous and quite interesting. You may need to pay attention to the film, even see it twice if needed, but don't watch while sleepy. For another Kishon film, try The Fox. .....Rizzo"