Israeli Film “Synonyms” Shows Futility of Trying to Escape Oneself

Oct 5, 2019 by Two Sues On the Aisle

Two Sues on the Aisle – By Sue Weston and Susie Rosenbluth

The new Israeli film, “Synonyms,” which is about to be rolled out to theaters across the country, takes viewers on  an uncharted journey into the manic mind of Yoav, a young IDF veteran who flees Israel for Paris, hoping to find in the City of Lights an escape from his general state of disillusion with life, disenchantment with his home country, and general self-loathing.

Written and directed by Nadav Lapid, this semi-autobiographical film opens with the mesmerizingly attractive Yoav (Tom Mercier, a former judo champion who quit the sport to pursue dance and then acting) arriving with only a backpack at a magnificent if sparsely furnished Parisian apartment. How he found this apartment is unclear, but, after letting himself in with a key under the mat, he seductively strips and takes a bath.

 Echoing the performers’ nightmare of appearing onstage stark naked, Yoav discovers that, while he was bathing, the apartment was robbed. With no clothes to hide his nakedness, he runs from door to door, hoping to find a neighbor who will help him. Finding no one, he returns to the bath, shivering with cold, and, perhaps, waiting to die.

He is saved—or, perhaps, reborn—when he is discovered by his neighbors, the young, chic would-be writer, Emile (Quentin Dolmaire), and his oboist girlfriend, Caroline (Louise Chevillotte). Together, they have sufficient funds to clothe, feed, and generally tend to Yoav whom they find attractive physically and intellectually.

Yoav’s first act is to purchase a Hebrew-French dictionary, which he is determined to memorize in order to substitute French for Hebrew. Wandering the streets of Paris, he repeats words with all the grit of a high school student who wants nothing more than an A in French.

But Yoav wants more than just to be able to converse comfortably with his new countrymen. He wants to obliterate his connection to Israel, Hebrew, and all that he left behind. He hates the military and seems to hold his parents, to whom he refuses to speak even by Skype, responsible.

But, as any ex-pat can attest, it is not so easy to obliterate the past. A stranger in a strange land often learns more about himself and the life he wishes to flee. So, too, does Yoav, a storyteller whose tales about his early life appeal greatly to Emile. At one point, Yoav almost vomits an extensive list of pejoratives to describe his memories of Israel, to which Emile responds that no country can be all of that.

Indeed, Yoav learns that every country has its rules, quirks, and absurdities. When Emile, who has more clothes than any young man is likely to need, offers Yoav a mustard-colored trench coat, the ex-pat Israeli insists on wearing it for the rest of the film, almost as though it were a uniform, albeit not the one issued to him by the IDF, which he now abhors.

When Yoav decides to attend French naturalization classes to prepare for full integration into his new society, he learns that his teacher is no less nationalistic than his Israeli friend, Yaron, who shows up in Paris and, for fun, passionately sings HaTikvah while traveling on the metro.

In case it’s not clear, Emile tells him directly that France is no different than every other country in the world, “rot and banality, same as everywhere,” he says. Yoav discovers injustice and politics are at play in Paris, too.

Needing a job, Yoav finds a position handling security at the Israeli embassy. He is fired when he refuses to force a line of French Jews seeking to make aliyah to stand in the rain while waiting for interviews.

Finding himself unemployed and presumably broke, he opts to pose for a pornographic film, a medium which seems to be a metaphor for Yoav’s entire existence in Paris.

Despite the kinetic performance by Mr. Mercier, the film, with its unstructured plot held together by gratuitous scenes of male nudity and flashbacks comingled with what are supposed to be current events, tends to drag. But, perhaps, this confused perspective of Yoav’s journey is a story within a story, musings drawn from Mr. Lapid’s imagination or the retelling of a sequence of events that are unfolding as the film continues.

“Synonyms” is outrageously irreverent, pushing the envelope by Yoav’s blurred perception of the possible. The film purposely shocks the senses and questions the fine line between love and hate.

***

Two Sues on the Aisle bases its ratings on how many challahs it pays to buy (rather than make) in order to see the play, show, film, or exhibit being reviewed. “Synonyms” received one challah.