Nadav Lapid’s film begins with some distinctively original sequences about his movie-directing hero, but sinks into anguished monologuing
Here is a fierce, jagged shard of autofictional rage from the
Israeli director Nadav Lapid, the winner of the
Berlin Golden Bear in 2019 for his previous movie Synonyms. There is some really distinctive film-making language here, with the looming, uncontrolled closeups, whip-pans between characters for dialogue scenes, the throbbing sound design and some really sensational musical set pieces.
But the mystery and the unprocessed anger that make this film interesting all come at the beginning. As it begins to explain more and more about what drives its leading character, the film becomes less and less interesting and the stridently melodramatic finale, as well as being highly unlikely in ordinary plot terms, feels a little bit self-exculpatory.