Avis des critiques

A fly-on-the-wall camera which seems to miss no detail, accompanied by no commentary at all, to let the enormity of the reality depicted to us emerge from the apparently banal scenario and speak for itself, unrestrained by an intrusive editorial voice. This effect is strongly helped, however, by a profoundly ironic editing work, in this case handled by the Jewish Turkish editor-turned-director himself. Ipeker’s approach could not be better suited to his film’s flabbergasting subject...

...It’s a thorny, multi-layered, and visually striking subject that seems readymade for a critically minded documentary treatment, so it’s no surprise this is not the first we’ve seen on it. Polish director Michalina Musielak’s Miss Holocaust (2017) had a high-profile run on the festival shorts circuit several years ago. The Pageant, however, is able to use its feature-length to raise more of the troubling psychological aspects of the event, in a non-conclusive, humbly observational manner that never presumes to condemn the choices of its subjects.

Its formal adeptness is important, but the movie’s lack of final ethical conclusion, in a situation where no definitive or even partial judgment seems possible, is what lingers even more than the clearly outrageous moments of tastelessness.

...The documentary feels soft-centred, satisfying neither as journalistic exposé nor as observational panorama in the Frederick Wiseman vein. At one point, Leibowitz comments that the event is all about character, yet The Pageant only thinly illuminates the characters involved.

Not everything about it is actually that pretty either, but the Turkish director doesn’t go as far as openly slamming the event, also because it obviously brings joy to at least some of its elderly participants. But he does have an eye for detail, especially uncomfortable ones...