Search: Directed by Arnaud Desplechin

Desplechin fires off too many salvoes which hit wide of the mark

A truly innovative piece of filmmaking which mixes cinema-verité style documentary with a knowing postmodern self-consciousness.

Desplechin eases us into the goings-on without sacrificing any of Roth’s complicated and thorny subject matter.

The writer-director takes great enjoyment in playing around with his various obsessions.

How does Ismael have the derring-do to believe that all these women are there, like a bouquet, for him to choose from? He is an artist, of course, who creates his own reality.

Del Toro and Amalric with contrasting acting styles make a magnetic duo yet the ponderous detail of the therapy occasionally bogs down the film, so much so that even the two actors cannot surmount it completely.

Despite its considerable length, it avoids overstaying its welcome.

Desplechin, like no other, startles with his enigmatic perceptions on the gender divide.

Based on Mosco Boucault’s documentary Roubaix, Commissariat Central, and using the actual interrogation transcripts, Desplechin shoots for a different tone.