AllMovie

Especially made for fans of arthouse fare, this intellectually challenging work from writer/director Anne-Marie Mieville offers a heady mixture of ancient and modern philosophical conversation and humor. The film is comprised of three segments. The first is an updated rendition of Plato's dialogues in which Socrates and Callicles discuss the qualities that make one man superior to another; they also explore which endeavors have the greatest value in the world. The joke of the segment is that the modern Socrates is portrayed as a suburban housewife who discusses these matters while redecorating her home. The second segment is set upon a stage. Mieville's husband, distinguished filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard steps out and recites passages from 20th-century philosopher Hannah Arendt's "The Nature of Totalitarianism." The film's final section was written entirely by Mieville and offers wry musings on the effects of romance upon creativity as seen from the view of a couple who have spent most of their lives together.