Synonyms
Nadav Lapid’s “Synonyms” is one of the most unusual films I’ve seen this year, although I would hesitate to call it a good film. I like the concept of it to a point, but the execution feels messy, over-plotted and under-explained as Yoav’s adventures in Paris progress throughout the film. As a result, “Synonyms” confounds when we hope it will enlighten us on the mindset of its main character, and that’s a rough direction for a film to lead its audience in.
The newcomer Tom Mercier plays Yoav, and for the first nearly 10 minutes, he is silent, and naked, when he comes home to his Paris apartment, takes a bath, and finds it emptied. Someone has stolen his belongings, so he runs from apartment to apartment, naked, trying to find someone whom can help him. Dejected, he goes back to his apartment and lies in the tub. In walk Emile (Quentin Dolmaire) and Caroline (Louise Chevillotte), whom find his body cold, and they get him to their apartment to warm him up. After he awakes, the three become friends as Yoav tries to make his way through Paris, with what help Emile and Caroline can give him, while also trying to forge himself a different life from the one he left behind in Israel.
“Synonyms’s” basic narrative premise is that Yoav is leaving his old life in Israel behind for a new one he is trying to create in Paris. Fundamentally, that’s a really interesting idea for a movie, and, especially with how the movie starts out, you hope Lapid will pull it off. One of the film’s biggest mistakes is that it is too vague about why Yoav wants to leave his old life behind, going as far as renouncing speaking Hebrew. We get a flashback, as well as scenes with his father, whom has come to Paris in hopes of bringing him home, but neither of those things really illuminate for us why Yoav wants to reinvent himself. On top of it all is a romantic triangle that begins to develop between he, Emile and Caroline that feels tacked on for some potential interpersonal conflict more than being something integral towards Yoav’s Journey. Mercier’s performance is really interesting to watch, but without a natural character arc developing, it’s all for naught. The pieces are in place for a compelling character study, but unfortunately, it feels as though the screenplay needed some further structure to make this film work.
