Le Livre des solutions
Michel Gondry, France, 2023o
Marc, a bipolar and paranoid filmmaker, cannot tolerate seeing his current project picked apart by his producers. The clips he’s been able to sneak a look at lead him to fear the worst. With his editor as an accomplice, he manages to spirit away the rushes to his aunt’s place in the Cévennes, to finish the film as he envisions it. Instead, its completion is constantly postponed, as he creates endless diversions and impasses, which alternate between the comic and the downright disturbing.
In his films, Michel Gondry invariably explores subjective perception and dreams versus reality. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Science of Sleep (2006) are packed with crazy ideas; playfulness is Gondry's signature. The protagonist of his new film is also tormented by ideas, although his future success is far less assured than Gondry's. Marc (Pierre Niney), a filmmaker, oscillates between self-doubt and anger. At a meeting with the co-producers of a film in the making, they admit they understand nothing about his work and threaten to take control away from him. Marc flees with his collaborators and the film material, captured in analog. In a village in the Cévennes, at the home of his beloved aunt, he plans to finalize the film and quickly loses himself in a maze of creative ideas that drive his collaborators mad. In short, Gondry's comedy pokes fun at a certain type and a milieu he knows to perfection, although his work isn't nearly as unprofessional as that of his anti-hero. The story's resolution may be a little less original than hoped, but it remains entertaining thanks to an endearing irony and playful gags.
Kathrin Halter