Introduction

Imagine a film about a camera that causes a tragedy just by being set up. A director (portrayed by the actual director) considers a new project while reflecting on old age and his career. Touching on themes such as families and international politics, the work fuses documentary and drama.
Director Romain Goupil earned a dedicated following with his previous work, Hands Up, which was featured at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2010. In this new film, he also appears as an actor, playing a director who is growing increasingly conscious of his advancing years as he remains focused on the world around him. By weaving in documentary footage from the past, Goupil combines a microscopic view – the director’s inner turmoil and the growth of his children – with a macroscopic perspective. This work is a summation of Goupil’s career as the creator of a wide range of films, including features, documentaries, and shorts. In part, it is also a meta-film that deals with the act of moviemaking. But more than anything, this well-crafted and superb film, filled with Goupil’s special brand of humor, is an exquisite depiction of the emotional state of a man on the verge of old age.