Ismael’s Ghosts review: Marion Cotillard leads the cast of this feature which follows a filmmaker whose life is sent into a tailspin by the return of a former lover just as he is about to embark on the shoot of a new film.
Ismael’s Ghosts review by Andrew Gaudion.
Ismael’s Ghosts review
There are many directions which Ismael’s Ghosts, the 12th film of Arnaud Desplechin’s career, could go throughout its sprawling narrative. It often calls upon surreal humour, philosophical pondering, and a mysterious plot device to drive its many narrative threads, often switching its focus to the point where it often becomes hard to focus on both the characters and their plights. There is an easy way to describe its plot; a filmmaker, Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) is working on a new film, a fictionalised account of the adventures of his diplomat brother, but his life is thrown into disarray when his wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) returns as if from the dead after disappearing 20 years ago. This plot description doesn’t take into account the number of different strands that we follow over the course of its often meandering, self-indulgent runtime.
Ismael himself remains the focus of these strands, as we are often treated to vibrant, humorous and energetic excerpts from the film he’s making and also delve into the lives of those he is closest to, namely Carlotta’s father Henri (an exceptional László Szabó) and Ismael’s girlfriend Sylvia (a shy Charlotte Gainsbourg). All the relationships and his work are tested or thrown into disarray with the arrival of Carlotta, whose mere presence brings out the worst tendencies in Ismael’s erratic character.
The mystery surrounding Carlotta is one that the film thrives on feeding but is never too concerned with revealing. For a fair stretch of the film, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in for a Hitchcock inspired thriller in which the riddle to be solved hides a darker truth, one that sends our lead into a spiral of insanity. This is very much enforced by the film’s excellent Hermann-esque score from Gregoire Hetzel and Mike Kourtzer, a score which flirts with a devilish playfulness and menace. But the film never takes that path. Instead, much of the discussions had between Ismael and Carlotta often revolve around pretentious self-analysing, while Ismael’s relationship with Sylvia quickly descends into a tired trope of insecurity and jealously in the presence of a former lover.
Ismael’s Ghosts review
Soon enough though, the film pushes Carlotta and Cotillard’s eerie-performance into the background, instead to focus on Ismael’s own turmoil as sleep deprivation causes him to lose sight of his film, and the people in his life, retreating into himself and dealing with the demons in his life, confused as to what his focus should be and who he should be leading his life through, be it through his lover’s both past and present or through the image he has created on screen of his estranged brother.
It is in this final act wallowing that you’ll likely lose interest in Ismael’s Ghosts as it chooses to indulge in the woes of the artist rather than choose to delve deeper into the lives of those around him, as the likes of Sylvia and Carlotta are often reduced to the background, only to be brought back to the fore right at the end to establish a sense that all these strands were leading somewhere worthwhile. But the film, like Ismael, cannot escape its own self-indulgent tendencies, leading to an experience that never coalesces into something that feels all that insightful, despite some fine acting and moments of wit and mystery.
Ismael’s Ghosts review by Andrew Gaudion, June 2018.
Ismael’s Ghosts is now playing in UK cinemas.
