Within its first half hour, “Ismael’s Ghosts” weaves together espionage, melodrama, supernatural hauntings, and a filmmaker’s creative crisis. It’s the most ambitious movie to date from French director Arnaud Desplechin, whose ensemble dramas “A Christmas Tale” and “My Golden Years” also dealt with characters coping with their troubled pasts. This time, it’s a wild hodgepodge of genres that often risk collapsing on top of each other. At its best, the movie is a freewheeling gambit, hurtling in multiple directions at once, and it’s thrilling to watch Desplechin try juggle them all.
“Ismael’s Ghosts” within the confines of a movie imagined by its main character: a dense, labyrinthine spy story involving the experiences of young recruit Ivan (Louie Garrel) who’s services straight out of school. Minutes into that setup, Desplechin pulls out to reveal the world of disheveled writer-director Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), a rugged,...
“Ismael’s Ghosts” within the confines of a movie imagined by its main character: a dense, labyrinthine spy story involving the experiences of young recruit Ivan (Louie Garrel) who’s services straight out of school. Minutes into that setup, Desplechin pulls out to reveal the world of disheveled writer-director Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), a rugged,...
- 5/17/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
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