Restoration

Restoration is a 2011 Israeli film directed by Yossi (Joseph) Madmoni. The Hebrew title is בוקר טוב אדון פידלמן (transliterated "Boker Tov Adon Fidelman", literally "Good Morning Mr Fidelman"). Plot The film concerns a small furniture-restoration business in downtown Tel Aviv, Malamud & Fidelman. As the film begins, one of the partners (Malamud, played by Rami Danon) has died, and bequeathed his share in the business not to his longtime partner Yaakov Fidelman (Sasson Gabai), but to Yaakov's son Noah Fidelman (Nevo Kimhi). The aging Yaakov is a skilled craftsman, who loves his work and keeps exacting standards. However, he has little sense for financial issues, which had always been taken care of by his dead partner, Max Malamud. The business is going down, demand for Yaakov's services is falling off and banks refuse to give him loans. Noah, who had refused to follow in his father's footsteps and became a successful lawyer, is pressing Yaakov to retire and sell off the workshop – which could bring a lucrative profit as the area is undergoing a real-estate boom. Shortly before Max died, a mysterious young man named Anton (Henry David) gets a job in the workshop, and becomes Yaakov's helper and apprentice. Little is revealed of Anton's antecedents; he had broken off relations with his family, for unknown reasons, and hides when his brother comes by seeking him. Anton comes up with a way of saving the failing business, or at least giving it a breathing spell: a broken-down 19th Century German Steinway piano, which Anton discovered among old junk in the workshop, can possibly be repaired and sold for a considerable sum.