The indie production company bankrolling Becker’s debut film just got a look at his incomprehensible four-hours-plus cut and understandably decided to re-edit it themselves, to hopefully salvage something. Instead, Becker, Charlotte, his faithful editor, and Sylvia, the producer he treats like an assistant, go rogue, bundling up all the hard drives, so they can finish the film guerilla style in the country home owned by Becker’s Aunt Denise.
Lovely Aunt Denise immediately sympathizes with the other two women, because she has been putting up with Becker’s delusional self-indulgence for years. Unfortunately, returning to her welcoming farmhouse exposes Becker to a host of fresh distractions, like his old “Book of Solutions” an amateurish collection of aphorisms intended to serve as a blueprint for life, but in fact, consists of a laundry list of counterproductive instructions, like “always drive in second gear.”
This “love-letter” to cinema desperately needed a sternly worded studio memo. Book of Solutions is so quirky and precious, it will make you retch your guts out. Apparently, the running time is only 103 minutes, but it feels like it drags on for four or five hours. This is not what love for cinema should look like. In contrast, Kim Jee-won also follows a difficult filmmaker struggling to realize an idiosyncratic vision in Cobweb, which considerably bolder, smarter, edgier, and more visually striking (as well as infinitely more watchable).
Book of Solutions is also stuffed to the rafters with Becker’s supposedly adorable DIY creations, which are pure cringe, like the broken-down van he turns into an editing station for the unamused Charlotte. Viewers will have the same response all the cutesiness Gondry buries them under. He gives the film a distinctive texture, but it quickly grows tiresome. Not recommended, The Book of Solutions screens Thursday (3/7) and Sunday (7/10) as part of this year’s French Rendez-Vous.
