Shikun

This loose film adaptation of Rhinoceros, the 1959 absurdist play by Romanian-French writer Eugène Ionesco, isn’t something to go into unprepared. It should be said that mainstream audiences won’t find it to be particularly accessible, yet it has no intention of being a mainstream movie. Director Amos Gitai’s feature is boldly and loudly theatrical, showing a figurative hyperreal version of the world, instead of anything literal. It should also be said that absurdism doesn’t necessarily mean comedic.

In an apartment building in Tel Aviv, an assortment of characters breeze in and out of shot, largely ignoring each other as they spout monologues to the camera. It’s all highly symbolic and extremely florid. The original play is a commentary on repressive, authoritarian regimes, those who succumb to this way of thinking (becoming a rhinoceros), and those who hold on to their ability to think for themselves.

Few characters are given a name, and the only discernible lead is French-Swiss actress Irène Jacob as a quasi-narrator. She drifts through proceedings, occasionally commenting on proceedings in an abstract way. The whole film is an exercise in allusion and symbolism, requiring active watching to get anything from, and this can be a little exhausting. Apparently it was for the audience at the late night press screening, many of whom didn’t care to see the piece through to the end.

Sure, it’s a demanding film, and these demands may not be worth the rewards, which are slim. It occasionally takes on a hypnotic quality, but its affected and exaggerated delivery can prove to be too much of a barrier. Some of the feature’s impact at the 2024 Berlinale might be accidental, since an Israeli movie where characters talk about wars (mostly unspecified wars in unspecified places in unspecified times) has taken on an added dimension since it was made. However, Gitai has mentioned how his anti-authoritarian film was conceived during the widespread protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Such an exercise as Shikun must be enriching and interesting for the filmmaker and his cast, if not necessarily for the audience.

Oliver Johnston

Shikun does not have a UK release date yet.

Read more reviews from our Berlin Film Festival 2024 coverage here.

For further information about the event visit the Berlin Film Festival website here.

Watch a clip from Shikun here: