O for Oblomov

Almost a documentary about a documentary, which cleverly avoids the tedium often inherent in film about film and fiction about fiction (the reference point is Goncharov's novel about a well-intentioned but slothful Russian nobleman). Two film crews (documentary and TV live show) arrive simultaneously to interview a likeable but pseud eccentric, Niklaus Nepro, whose chaotic disposition proves infectious: the crews each shoot each other, the live show disintegrates into utter muddle. Witty and intelligent, the film preaches something; but peeling away the fragile layers of irony, sparing no one, it's hard to see quite what.