Ismael’s Ghosts
Directed by ARNAUD DESPLECHIN
Starring MATHIEU AMALRIC MARION COTILLARD CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG
Released 1 JUNE
No one who’s ever encountered the work of Arnaud Desplechin will be surprised by the writer-director’s habit of mashing together bits and pieces of repurposed and retrofitted story material. , his tenth film, not including two documentaries, since 1991, is energised by and 2008’s know well. Will Desplechin ever make another unprecedented masterpiece like his idiosyncratic period drama, ? Maybe not, but the dividends paid by his “Mathieu Amalric plays an addled yet high-octane creative, unable to cope with challenges monumental and mundane alike” mode are more than satisfactory.
