Husband
In an unusual case of autofiction, a husband and wife attempt to figure out their relationship on camera.
Watching this film is a strange experience. It is centred on a real-life couple, the filmmaker Josh Appignanesi and his wife, Devorah Baum. They share the credit for producing and directing Husband which follows on from their earlier joint feature, 2016’s The New Man, but Baum, an academic, is now best known as a writer. Indeed, although Appignanesi's earlier films featured actors, Husband and its predecessor (which I have not seen) are documentaries in which the couple appear as the central figures. Most of Husband takes place in New York where Devorah accompanied by Josh is promoting her book Feeling Jewish: A Book for Just About Anyone. That makes the film sound straightforward but before viewing it I had been told that in a press kit Husband had been described as a work of autofiction. It's a term that was new to me but it means what you would suppose, namely a work which blends autobiography and fiction.
Husband does include scenes which suggest a standard documentary approach, but elsewhere it incorporates references which make it clear that Josh is asking Devorah to recreate for the camera comments that she had made earlier. One tends to assume that in choosing to describe their film as autofiction they are indicating that the fictional element goes further than that, but how far it goes is impossible to tell. That uncertainty affects one's response to the film because what is most interesting about it is its precise and utterly unflattering portrait of Josh as a man who embodies an attitude that is currently much discussed. I refer to a man who may well be married and who would in no way regard himself as misogynistic but whose attitude to women, however unconsciously, speaks of his own sense of superiority.
Although Josh and Devorah are acting out a version of themselves, one wonders why they are choosing to do this (they also did the same thing in The New Man which dealt with the reactions of Josh to becoming a father). A second question is even more to the point: to what extent is this portrait of their marriage taken into the realm of fiction? The film’s pre-credit scenes refer back to The New Man and to related interview footage and here Josh openly admits to being indulgent and self-absorbed. As Husband progresses and we see him joining Devorah in New York he readily declares that his aim is to support her. Nevertheless, as we hear the words that he addresses to her, he comes across as somebody whose talk wears her down and it wears us down too. Even when praising her, it is as though his judgment is authoritative and the way in which he pushes her, however beneficial it may be, seems to come out of his own self-obsession. The film’s concluding scene includes more of the same: he asserts first that he finds it hard to be him before admitting that he inflicts that on Devorah. She, for her part, accepts her need for him regardless. She may understand him but as shown here - however real or however fictional - theirs does not suggest a marriage that feels desirable. And, yes, save for shots after the end credits, the last image in Husband is a long-held one of Josh.
However uneasy one is when watching this view of a marriage, it is this aspect of Husband which, speaking to contemporary concerns, fascinates. Otherwise, though, it is a rather scrappy film which is probably wise to opt for a shorter than average length for a feature (even as it stands it fills in with impressions of New York City often in montage sequences). It is on stronger ground when dealing with events linked to the launch of Devorah's book including a section in which Josh pleasingly does not appear and which features a discussion between Devorah and Zadie Smith. It should nevertheless be acknowledged that Josh is ready to show himself to his own disadvantage as in early footage about his inability to find his passport, but when Devorah exclaims “You’re exhausting!” it is hard to disagree. As though to even things up, Husband, having announced itself initially as a film directed and produced by Josh Appignanesi and Devorah Baum, concludes with a credit showing their names in the reverse order. But, rightly or wrongly, I am left with the impression that this is at heart Josh's film.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Josh Appignanesi, Devorah Baum, Zadie Smith, David Baddiel, Limor Baum, Evan Davies, Alissa Quart, Ruth Teitel, Mark Oppenheimer, Cam Scott, Elli Stern, Cheryl Pearl Sucher, Henrietta Weunraub, Shirley Baum, Geoffrey Baum.
Dir Josh Appignanesi and Devorah Baum, Pro Josh Appignanesi and Devorah Baum, Ph Josh Appignanesi, Limor Baum, Mitch Blummer, Matt Kohn and Andrew Schmidt, Ed Josh Appignanesi and Martin Macdonald, Music Josh Appignanesi and Paul Silver.
Minotaur Film/Sigma Films/WASH-Dartmouth Films.
71 mins. UK. 2022. UK Rel: 3 February 2023. Cert. 15.
