Direction: Nadav Lapid
Country: Israel
Awkwardly shot, Ahed’s Knee is the fifth film from Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid (Synonyms, 2019; The Kindergarten Teacher, 2014). The fact that it's his most disruptive work to date, doesn’t mean it was effective or even likable. In truth, the idea behind the story is brilliant, but the result is meek. Vacillating between empathy and cynicism, this is a brave political statement rather than an artistic film, even if it boasts a somewhat experimental Godard-kind of appeal. It ultimately suffers from excessively staged scenes and a flirting posture that feels contrived. The direction, insisting on obscene camera stunts, is far from impressive either.
The story follows a celebrated filmmaker named Y (Avshalom Pollak) - Lapid’s alter ego - who left his terminally ill mother in Tel Aviv and travels to the remote small village of Sapir, in the deserted Arava region. There, one of his films is going to be screened, followed by a Q&A session. He immediately feels a special connection with Yahalom (Nur Fibak), the young deputy director for the Ministry of Culture, who is responsible for this opportunity. However, he gets pissed off when a form is given to him, confirming he won’t address certain ‘unwelcome’ topics in public. He righteously sees this mandatory procedure as domestic censorship.
The director’s disenchantment with today’s Israel methods is valid, but Nadip lets the clear message overrule the material. It sure builds some tension, and yet the film fails emotionally, morphing from a complacent, sleep-inducing narrative to utter sentimentality, especially in the last segment. I felt distant. Moreover, the soundtrack, just like the eloquent prolixity, has no impact at all in the context presented. Overall, this is all too dramatic and obtuse to fully satisfy.
