Novak
It was in 1990 that Doctor Nikola Novak was forced to abandon what he believed to be a set of groundbreaking demonstrations of the mental capabilities of a thirteen-year old girl named Zoe, her calling of the Zener cards held out of sight flawless but his work curtailed when he was arrested, regarded as a dissident by the Yugoslav government, escaping into exile in Greece where decades later under the fireworks of the arrival of the new year of 2023 he is located by Petros whose father once worked with him.
Told of the founding of New Atlantis, “a utopia for the sciences and arts,” Petros tells Novak that in recent years his work on the effect of magnetic fields on water has been validated, that they have even managed to construct a working prototype of his “hydro-desaturator,” inviting him to join them to guide them in their projects and efforts to rid themselves of the toxic effects of endemic electromagnetic radiation, the first step in a revolution of liberation.
The debut feature of writer and director Harry Lagoussis, Novak stars Zlatko Buric as the titular scientist, living in obscurity and rejecting publicity until Petros (Yiannis Papadopoulos) pleads his case, introducing him to his associates Stefanos (Sotiris Belsis) in his gold shorts, Louise (Ella Rumpf) who shows no indication Petros’ affection is returned, her eyes only for composer Adrian (Christopher Scott) and the rest all of them living in the home of their wealthy patron Maria (Elena Topalidou).
Buric most recently the hostile invader challenged by Superman, he previously played the Russian oligarch aboard the luxury yacht lost in the Triangle of Sadness, but while that was a work of intermittent brilliance Novak is indulgent and invariably tedious even as it parallels that film with its depiction of a group of useless bickering cranks self-organising with no greater purpose beyond the nominal hierarchy they have established.
New Atlantis less a progressive think tank of futurism than a commune where nobody will drink beer unless it has been desaturated yet all smoke cigarettes and sit in what they ostensibly call Faraday cages to protect themselves from exposure, as a satire of cults and the acolytes of pseudoscience and the wellness industry it is blunted by the lack of charm and charisma of the charlatan who becomes their figurehead and guru.
Its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the claims of Doctor Novak are that through desaturation his work can cure brain fog and tiredness, bringing balance to the body and reducing the half-life of unstated pollutants, but feeling like a dried-up river bed meandering vaguely to the hills rather than any conclusion, a tale of fools following a greater fool who unsurprisingly dresses in tin-foil for a promotional film, the only ailment Novak can address is insomnia.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival continues until Wednesday 20th August
