Ismael's Ghosts (2017)

The story 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.

Director:

Arnaud Desplechin

Writers:

Arnaud Desplechin (scenario & dialogue), Julie Peyr (scenario & dialogue)

Stars:

Mathieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, Charlotte Gainsbourg

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mathieu Amalric	...	Ismaël Vuillard
Marion Cotillard	...	Carlotta Bloom
Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Sylvia
Louis Garrel	...	Ivan Dedalus
Alba Rohrwacher	...	Arielle / Faunia
László Szabó	...	Henri Bloom
Hippolyte Girardot	...	Zwy
Jacques Nolot	...	Claverie
Catherine Mouchet	...	Le médecin soins intensifs
Samir Guesmi	...	Le médecin
Mélodie Richard	...	Hôtesse de l'air
Marc Prin	...	Jacques (Diplomate 1)
Bruno Todeschini	...	Responsable sécurité Tadjikistan
Pascal Ternisien	...	Robert (Diplomate 2)
Philippe Fretun	...	Mathieu (Diplomate 3)

Storyline

Having run away twenty-one years ago, Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) is back out of the blue. Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) has been busy rebuilding a life for himself next to Sylvia (Charlotte Gainsbourg) while working on his next feature film. As Ismael's trials and tribulations unfurl, so do those of the main character of his film: the idle, funny and reckless diplomat Ivan Dédalus (Louis Garrel). The character is a nod to the ghost of another of Desplechin's creations, the brother of Paul Dédalus, three-time hero of "My Sex Life - or How I Got Into an Argument," "A Christmas Tale" and "My Golden Days." A film within a film - and then some, Desplechin layers narrative upon narrative. With ISMAEL'S GHOSTS, Desplechin returns once again to the past, creating film after film as his way of stepping back in time, and proving yet again that his brand of genius lies in his ability to find light in the darkest of places.

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Plot Keywords:

tel aviv israel | cell phone | wife leaves husband | film within a film | filmmaking | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality including some graphic nudity, language, and brief strong violence

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Hebrew

Release Date:

23 March 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ismael's Ghosts

Filming Locations:

Roubaix, Nord, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,158, 25 March 2018

Gross USA:

$102,510

Company Credits

Production Co:

Why Not Productions, France 2 Cinéma, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 135 min (director's cut)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is Arnaud Desplechin's sixth collaboration with Mathieu Amalric.

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Connections

References Vertigo (1958)

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Soundtracks

I'm Glad There Is You
Performed by Ella Fitzgerald

User Reviews

What a complete and ultimatley hollow mess

I saw this film up in Cambridge, with a sophisticated crowd and more than half the audience walked out.

I am all for narrative complexity, but pretentiousness and complexity for the sake of complexity is artificial and pompous.

I think the only people who like this film are self conscious lowbrow audience that simply assumes its convolution has some meaning that escaped them, or that throwing in disjointed and out of place ad frankly random surreal elements is somehow a good onto itself.

In the end, despite recruitment of solid acting talent, this is just an amazingly bad film.