NYFF 2017 // A FILM REVIEW OF "ISMAEL'S GHOSTS (LES FANTÔMES D'ISMAËL)"

BY MATEO MORENO

Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) is a screenwriter whose wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) disappeared 20 years ago and was presumed dead. Although heartbroken, he found the strength to move on and eventually fell in love with an astrophysicist named Sylvia, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg. They live together and Ismael has been hacking away on his latest script. Life moves slowly and his family hates him. Then one day Carlotta shows up at their house. Where has she been? Why was she gone? And if she isn't dead, what exactly did happen? Alongside all of this we cut away to the film that Ismael is writing, an all too complicated narrative film that plays along Ismael's midlife crisis. If you're familiar with Director (and co-writer) Arnaud Desplechin's work, there's a lot to spool over. If you're not, this film may not be the trigger to get you invested in his filmography.

ISMAEL'S GHOSTS premiered at Cannes this year and now is showcased at the NYFF with a longer Director's Cut and it feels like it. Meaning, there's way too much of everything. It's an overstuffed mess, but at points it's an interesting one. The acting is all around great (especially a sublime Marion Cotillard) and the cinematography by Irina Lubtchansky is breathtaking. But the screenplay is truly a mess and the film is all over the place warranting not a directors long cut but many cuts from the director to shape this film up. There will be a moment that draws you in and immediately after another moment that will perplex you and offer no answer to what it means. For hardcore fans, perhaps ISMAEL'S GHOSTS is a journey worth taking. But it's not one that I will be recommending.

VERDICT: SKIP IT

WRITTEN BY Arnaud Desplechin, Léa Mysius, Julie Peyr DIRECTED BY Arnaud Desplechin STARRING Mattieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Playing as part of the 2017 55th Annual New York Film Festival. https://www.filmlinc.org/