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A review by freshkatsu
The Nimrod Flipout: Stories by Etgar Keret
3.0
The main plot from Tatia Rosenthal's $9.99 (2008) is technically adapted from several of the short stories here. I said technical because the attraction of Etgar Keret's short stories (besides being ridiculously good looking for a writer) is his ability to construct a fantasy that seems so palpable and possible, and as a result the film differs from it by taking another route into pure abstraction. 'hmm, all the characters and props are the same, but somehow I feel like I'm reading something completely new.' Another reason for that is Keret's extremely laconic style which tends to welcome different interpretation. Mies van der Rohe's Less is More principle applies to the stories both linguistically and conceptually. In order to appreciate The Nimrod Flipout, you really need to finish every single story in order to grasp the overall 'point' of it, if there even is one.
Anyway, I guess I'm slightly biased because the film made such a big impression on me. It's ironic since I can see how the stories are meant to be looked at for a few seconds then completely forgotten until one afternoon, stuck in traffic after work, out of nowhere you have an epiphany about the meaning of life - then you remember how Keret has wrote about it already. They are something you would eventually relate to in the long term, but right now just read and don't expect too much.
Anyway, I guess I'm slightly biased because the film made such a big impression on me. It's ironic since I can see how the stories are meant to be looked at for a few seconds then completely forgotten until one afternoon, stuck in traffic after work, out of nowhere you have an epiphany about the meaning of life - then you remember how Keret has wrote about it already. They are something you would eventually relate to in the long term, but right now just read and don't expect too much.