Synonyms (Film)

Nadav Lapid based the film on his experiences as a young man in Paris, where he tried to shed his Israeli identity before eventually returning to Israel.[3] He recalled arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport “without knowing French at all,” determined to “live and die in Paris,” and giving up Hebrew while learning French vocabulary.[3] The film’s central character, Yoav, similarly imagines that moving from Israel to France will allow him to replace one identity with another.[2]

Lapid described the story as highly autobiographical, although its protagonist’s experiences are an exaggerated version of his own.[4][5] His parents helped him distinguish between the truth of his personal experiences and the fictional story of Yoav.[4] The screenplay was written with his father, writer Haim Lapid.[3]

A 2017 report, published while the project was in preparation, put its estimated budget at approximately €2.5 million and announced plans to film in Paris that autumn.[6] Those pre-production plans included participation by Israel’s Rabinovich Foundation and oversight by French producer Said Ben Said with his Swiss partner Michel Merkt.[6] Production subsequently took place mostly in France, with Ben Said leading the project; the production companies included Pai Films, run by Osnat Handelsman-Keren and Talia Kleinhendler, and Komolizen Film.[3] The film was an Israeli-French-German production.[2]

Era Lapid, who had edited her son’s films, became seriously ill during production.[5] Her cancer was discovered two days after filming began, and she initially withheld the news because she believed her son would stop filming if he knew.[5] She worked on the editing until her death before the film was completed; Neta Braun was subsequently credited alongside her as an editor.[3][7] Lapid dedicated the film to his mother and described their work as taking place “between editing room and hospitals.”[2]

The story follows Yoav, a 23-year-old Israeli played by Tom Mercier, who moves to France after completing his military service and tries to leave his homeland and national identity behind.[2][6] Convinced that Israel is on the brink of destruction, he arrives in Paris determined to become someone else.[2] Mercier’s performance was his first film acting role.[8]

In an early sequence, Yoav enters a large, empty, cold Paris apartment and discovers that his belongings have been stolen.[9] He runs naked through the apartment looking for them.[9] The narrative subsequently follows his efforts to establish a life in France while refusing to speak Hebrew.[4]

Yoav carries a French dictionary and mutters synonyms as he attempts to replace Hebrew with a new vocabulary.[2] His rejection of Israel is accompanied by an idealized view of France: Lapid described him as imagining a journey from “the worst country ever” to “the best country ever,” only to confront a more complicated reality.[2]

A young, wealthy Parisian couple, played by Quentin Dolmaire and Louise Chevillotte, becomes central to Yoav’s new life.[2] Despite these relationships, French society does not welcome him as he expected.[2] He also works at the Israeli embassy to support himself, moving between the French identity he seeks and the Israeli identity he wants to abandon.[9] In another sequence, he sings “Hatikva” on the Paris metro in an attempt to provoke a reaction.[4]

The film is set in Paris and uses French dialogue.[9] A Calcalist review emphasized its restless visual style and the physicality of scenes such as Yoav’s naked search through the apartment, describing the camera movement as turning the sequence into a kind of dance.[9]

At the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival, Synonyms won the Golden Bear for best film, becoming the first Israeli film to receive the award.[3] A jury headed by French actress Juliette Binoche selected it from an official competition of 16 films.[3] The award was presented by Binoche and outgoing festival director Dieter Kosslick, and the film also received the international critics’ FIPRESCI prize.[3] Its appearance in the official competition followed a seven-year gap for Israeli films.[2]

Lapid dedicated the Golden Bear to Era Lapid, calling her his “intimate artistic partner” and saying that he could still see her contribution in the film’s shots and cuts.[3] In describing their race to complete the edit, he said: “It was a kind of competition between death and completing the movie. And death won.”[2] After returning to Israel, he recalled being congratulated by passengers on his flight and joked: “At my bar mitzvah, no one praised me that way.”[5]

The film was scheduled to open in Israeli cinemas on February 28, 2019, and began screening in the United States on October 25 that year.[4] At the 2019 Ophir Awards, Nadav Lapid received a nomination for directing and Tom Mercier for lead actor.[7] Era Lapid and Neta Braun were also nominated for editing.[7]

Shay Goldman won the Ophir Award for cinematography for his work on the film.[7] Lapid accepted the award on Goldman’s behalf and read a speech that Goldman had sent him by phone, before being cut short for time.[7]

Before Synonyms, Lapid had directed the features Policeman and The Kindergarten Teacher.[6] Synonyms subsequently appeared in prominent retrospective selections: IndieWire ranked it 83rd among its 100 best films of the decade, while New York Times critic Manohla Dargis placed it sixth on her list of the ten best films of 2019.[8][10]

The film’s central question concerns whether someone can abandon an inherited identity and be remade as another person.[6] Lapid framed this as the possibility of someone being able to “die and be reborn as someone else,” while maintaining that Israeli identity is deeply embedded and cannot simply be escaped.[6] He also said that he remained “always a little bit like Yoav.”[2]

A Calcalist review interpreted the film through tensions between words and the body, the pursuer and the pursued, and the conqueror and the conquered.[9] It described Yoav as trying to replace the culture and identity in which he was raised, only to discover that he could not escape that identity.[9]

The film’s treatment of Israel prompted political sensitivity: Culture Minister Miri Regev offered conditional congratulations, saying that neither she nor her ministry had seen the film and could not judge whether its ideas might harm Israel, its symbols, or its values.[11] Lapid said the film addressed identity and the chaotic reality of life rather than representing a political party or a left- or right-wing position.[3] In his acceptance remarks, he acknowledged that some Israeli viewers might find it scandalous but called it a celebration of cinema, expressing hope that audiences would recognize how fury and hostility could emerge from strong attachment rather than a party-political position.[12]