“An offbeat and often outrageously funny work.”

Out of his many astonishing achievements, perhaps Samuel Beckett’s most invaluable contribution to the arts was his work within the movement popularly known as the “theatre of the absurd”, in which an artist is driven by an outright incredulity towards authority (both formal and in terms of creative endeavours), and where the meaningless of life and the banality of the status quo are challenged through bleak, existential stories of societal collapse. A recent work that he’d likely find quite amusing, primarily since it captures the same revolutionary spirit he and his peers strived to achieve, is I Am Night at Noonday (Je suis la nuit en plein midi), in which director Gaspard Hirschi makes his feature directorial debut with a documentary that tackles many intimidating subjects in a manner that is most entertaining and profoundly offbeat. The film follows Don Quixote, the proverbial Man of La Mancha, and his sidekick Sancho Panza as they set off on one of their many adventures – the only difference is that they are actually Manolo Bez, an acclaimed theatre director and social activist, and Saïd, a former convict-turned-delivery driver pulled into this adventure. The setting is Marseille, and the subject of their quest is to challenge the city’s changing face, captured exceptionally well by the director and presented as this unorthodox and challenging work of experimental filmmaking.

As with any documentary, we look at I Am Night at Noonday as being composed of two broad elements – the concept and the execution – and find that the impact is made in the moments where they come together. The difference is that Hirschi goes at these elements from entirely different directions, the underlying meaning of the film almost contrary to the manner in which he tells the story. Yet, we find that it’s entirely captivating and deeply provocative, not in spite of these contradictions but as a result of his desire to unsettle the status quo. Throughout this film, the director sets out to document Bez’s bizarre act of performance art, showcasing his self-defined odyssey to find meaning where many of us would not see much worth exploring. Marseille is the oldest city in France, yet Hirschi’s camera shows it as it is today – a vibrant melting pot composed of myriad cultures and unique energy, which forms the foundation of Bez’s attempts to examine the gradual changes occurring throughout. Addressing subjects such as gentrification and the politics of governing cityscapes through subtle but clear changes, the film builds itself around deconstructing the mythology of social order, taking the form of a lively and wickedly entertaining account of the city and its people.

In crafting this film, which presents itself as an amusing picaresque journey through the urban modern spaces of one of Europe’s most important historical cities, the director works closely with Bez (and all the other people who contributed to telling this story in some form) to create something unique but entirely compelling. I Am Night at Noonday is mostly unstructured – Miguel de Cervantes’ timeless creation may be frequently referenced, but he is only the foundation on which the film builds its most fascinating conversations. Taking the form of a freewheeling, offbeat road movie in which two very different individuals traverse areas of this sprawling city, the film sets out to carefully blur fact and fiction, using the character of Don Quixote as a crusader against the changes that tend to emerge in any large city. Hirschi is careful in his approach to the subject – he is firmly on the side of multiculturalism as a positive and essential force in contemporary Europe, but he also avoids leaning into the usual didactic conversations that could easily be misinterpreted as being driven from the kind of bigoted, outdated philosophies that some of the characters represent. In choosing to keep his film unstructured, he triumphs by providing a more engaging depiction of the subject, far more driven by its atmosphere than the precise words to describe contemporary Marseille and its many fascinating residents.

An offbeat and often outrageously funny work, the film documents one man’s attempt to understand the march of time, all told through his frequently unconventional acts of playful rebellion, captured in vivid detail by a director whose curiosity about this subject is exceptionally reflected in every frame. The off-the-wall, humorous elements are entertaining, whereas the quieter and more candid moments are the most revealing, showing the depth that went into the construction of this film and its wealth of compelling ideas. Hirschi sets out to document Bez’s unconventional experiment, a theatrical demonstration of rebellion against traditions, while still maintaining a wonderfully original perspective, as it becomes a unique approach to exploring sociocultural issues and finding beauty in what many consider to be urban decay, which Hirschi and his cohorts prefer to define as necessary and exciting change. The eccentric structure is undercut by a lingering sadness that lurks beneath the surface, showing that there was indeed some thought that went into this carefree social documentary. It is ultimately an attempt to explore the past, present and future of Marseille in tandem, investigating its history while also not being nostalgic for the bygone era, and instead showing a curiosity for the changes to come. Playful and subversive, but never lacking in depth, I Am Night at Noonday is proof that the ramblings of a madman begin to make sense – and perhaps even contain ingenious revelations – if we listen for long enough.