It is pleasing that Nadav Lapid’s Synonymes, which won the Golden Bear and the International Critics Association (FIPRESCI) awards as the best film of the last Berlin Film Festival, was released in the same year.
The film, which provides the greatest success of Israeli cinema in Berlin, has autobiographical features. Based on his own experience, Nadav Lapid puts the autopsy table in his film to confront the problems faced by a young man who wants to gain a new identity in a foreign country. This personal film, which critics in Berlin find extremely energetic, dynamic and shocking, has split audiences and critics in Israel.
At the center of the film is a former soldier who comes from Israel to Paris and strives to become a Frenchman by striking his identity as an Israeli. This young Yoav is ready to turn his back on his hometown to find ways to take root in France. Nadav Lapid, 44, co-wrote the screenplay with his father, Haim Lapid, a writer-psychologist.
The identity and identification issues
He described his film at the Berlin Festival as follows; “I’ve been thinking about this film since 30 years, that’s Bar Mitsva. I felt like I was drowning in Israel. I tried to leave Israel in 2000 and start a new life in France. I made this film, which is the project of my life, based on the notes I kept until that year. ”
A young man comes to Paris. He enters an empty apartment with the key he takes from under the mat. She gets undressed and takes a shower. When he comes out of the bathroom, he sees his clothes and all his belongings disappeared. He starts to run in his big apartment, but he can’t find anyone and his stuff. Shivering naked, he knocked on the doors of neighboring apartments, but no one opened the door. She faints and faints in the bathroom where she returns to warm.
The neighbors who come to the apartment in the morning find the boy lying unconscious in the bathroom. They carry the young man to their apartment and dress him. The young man says his name is Yoav. He has fled his country and wants to be a French citizen.
With his first day, Yoav’s (Tom Mercier) adventure in Paris did not begin well. However, he has come to this city which has been decorating his dreams for years with great hopes. He turned his back on his country and destroyed the bridges. He was conditioned to get out of his Israeli identity as quickly as possible. The Israeli identity is like a deadly tumor for which it must be taken immediately.
The only thing that Yoav trusts in order to survive in the country he comes from is the dictionary he takes. He refused to speak Hebrew even at the Israeli Consulate, where he went to renew his passport.
The first Parisians he met were the writer Emile (Quentin Dolmaire), who lost his life when he lost everything, and his lover, the oboeist Caroline (Louise Chevillotte). When he became intimate with Emile, a young bourgeoisie, Yoav slowly began to resemble a Parisian bourgeoisie.
He dedicated to his mother
On one of his trips with Emile in Paris, on a bridge over the Seine, Yoav says he wants to live in this city for the rest of his life and be buried in the Pére Lachaise cemetery, but his essence is in his body, his double identity never leaves him.
Joining Yoav, Caroline shares her sex life with the duo. Emile does not object to the situation. Our heroes, who live a trio of friendship and sex, bring to mind the masterpiece of Jules et Jim by François Truffaut.
The shaky footage shot with a hand-and-shoulder camera led by Yoav on the streets and bridges of Paris brings ‘Synonymes es a breeze from the French New Wave films.
Nadav says his film ‘Synonyms İsrail stems from the similarities between Israel and France. Im My film addresses universal issues of self-discovery and hope, Lap Lapid said. ‘The main issue of Thesaurus is the question of identity and belonging.
In one of the two interesting sequences of the film, under the supervision of the French teacher (Lea Drucker), the Vietnamese girl in the group preparing for the French citizenship exam read La Marsellaise in her own dialect, while Yoav feels the same anthem and reads from the inside. The other is the scene where Yoav coincidentally ran away from his father (Jehuda Almagor), who came to Israel to take him to Israel.
The literary dialogue in the script, which portrays a very realistic portrait of Yoav in the film, is the signature of author Haim Lapid. Era Lapid, the editor’s mother of Nadav, a member of a family of film artists, edited all of his son’s films. Era Lapid passed away while the film was about to be completed. Nadav dedicated his film to his mother, whom he called ’my closest artistic partner’.
Reverse Aliya
After the increasing anti-Jewish incidents in France with the participation of yellow waistcoats, the French Jews began to think more about the world with the rise of anti-Semitism.
In ‘Thesaurus, Yo Yoav’s‘ aliya, on the contrary ’. Id My film is undoubtedly bringing serious criticism in Israel, Lap said Lapid. But these criticisms come only from a person who is deeply attached to his country. My film criticizes Israel and proves my commitment to Israel. Contrary to what I thought, he said, politik I don’t agree with the classification of Thesaurus as a political film, although I do show my political opinion in my film..
However, when the filmography is examined, it is seen that Lapid made political cinema. The film, which focuses on themes such as identity, belonging, universal acceptances, culture and borders through Yoav, stands out with its ironic cinema language.
Yaron (Uria Hayik), a former soldier friend of Yoav’s security business at the Israeli Consulate, reminds him of the things he has always escaped. The film ends with a radical decision taken by the hero who is trapped between two cultures. Yoav realizes he doesn’t belong anywhere.
‘Synonymes iş has the following adjectives (not a compliment) describing Yoav on the photo of Tom Mercier, who portrays the hero of the story; obscene, ignorant, disgusting, old, ugly, rude, very bad, stinking, pitiful, repulsive, stupid, stupid, narrow-minded, retarded, disgusting.
The film is based on Tom Mercier, whose power appears on the screen throughout the film and deserves praise for the excellent commentary that the young actor adds to his character. Tom Mercier, whose family lives in France, stands out with his tremendous performance in his first attempt at the cinema. N. Lapid manages to get the maximum efficiency from his actor, which gives the film a young desire. Mercier had previously appeared on a TV series ‘Quotidien’ (2016).
Face flux of Israile Cinema
Israel has few awards in international competitions. Samuel Moaz’s Altın Lebanon ’with the Golden Lion Award in 2009 and the Silver Lion Award‘ Foxtrot 201 in 2017 were two masterpieces that made his country’s face laugh at the Venice Film Festival.
Ari Folman’s 45-star animated masterpiece ‘Bashir and Waltz / Waltz with Bashir’ (2008) won the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Among the Oscar winners of this year was an Israeli director. Guy Nattiv won the Oscar for Best Short Film for “Skin.”
Nadav Lapid received the Golden Bear Award at a young age for his sixth feature film ‘Synonyms’. Born in Tel Aviv, Lapid studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University. After military service, he studied French literature in Paris and cinema in Jerusalem. His second film, ic Policeman ’(2011), became famous.
The film tells the story of a member of an Israeli anti-terrorist unit who clashed with a group of radical youth. The film won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno Festival.
Kind Kindergarten Teacher 201 (2014), which was shown in the Directors’ Week of Cannes Film Festival, brought him international fame. In the film, a kindergarten teacher wants to develop the talent of her five-year-old student, who discovers that she is extremely prone to poetry. When he becomes obsessed with the child, he takes a dangerous path.
Maggie Gyllenhaal played the role of Sarit Larry in the Hollywood remake of Lapid’s film. A Wedding Photographer’s Diary göster was screened at the 2016 Cannes Festival Directors’ Week. Through two weddings, the film deals with the problems of two brides seeking independence and equal rights.
In 2016, Lapid was a jury member in the ‘Directors’ Week‘ competition. Lapid was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for his contribution to French culture.
Synonymes (2019)
Directed by: Nadav Lapid
Starring: Tom Mercier, Quentin Dolmaire, Louise Chevillotte, Uria Hayik, Gaya Von Schwarze, Yehuda Almagor, Gal Amitai, Idan Ashkenazi, Dolev Ohana, Erwan Ribard, Yawen Ribard
Screenplay by: Nadav Lapid
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Shai Goldman
Film Editing by: Neta Braun, François Gédigier, Era Lapid
Costume Design by: Khadija Zeggaï
Art Department: Thomas Laporte
Makeup Department: Noa Yehonatan
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Kino Lorber
Release Date: October 25, 2019
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