Playing Men

Given the title, it is not surprising that Playing Men is both playful and masculine. Matjaz Ivanisin initially deploys an entertaining inventory of unique games; among them, a kind of battle in which bodies are perfectly oiled, tossing heavy round cheese down steep streets, and manual jousting matches that are as mathematical as they are vocal. But the director suddenly plunges his film into crisis. Thus, like in a tennis match, a new and uncertain set begins, which ends up touching an even more profound and apt nerve. Firstly, with the idea that games should be taken seriously, especially when they constitute historic events; and secondly, that this research is a return to the origins, to the dreams of little boys. (Arnaud Hée)