“The Riddle of Shoshani” is a fascinating film about a legend that may have really existed

The human body consists of 70% water? Probably not in Mr. Shoshani’s case: right at the beginning of “The Shoshani Riddle”, the fascinating detective documentary about him directed by Michael Greenspan and broadcast on Khan 11, one of the interviewees defines him as someone who was 100% genius and 100% crazy. An hour and a bit later it is already clear what he was talking about, so did those who called the strange professor, the one who spoke 30 languages ​​and possessed far-reaching knowledge, as the Jewish version of Socrates. But was this legend really?

Although everyone who met Mr. Shoshani in his life agrees that it was an elevation, this is roughly where the agreements on his life story end. Where he was born, where he died, did he even die (it’s actually probable, because he is supposed to be over 120 years old) – all these are still a mystery. Even his full name is not really known, and it ranges from Hillel Perlman to Mordechai Rosenbaum. And in “The Riddle of Shoshani”, based on no less than a decade of trying to solve the same riddle, Greenspan does not present a prepared investigation: his own camera accompanies him all the way, on a transcontinental journey that even reaches one of his students, Elie Wiesel.

Greenspan, a sort of sane, sweet and harmless version of Borat, presents levels of investigation and obsession that probably do not fall short of the knowledge of Shoshani the genius. But Shoshani knew how to hide so well among his mysterious writings and stories that left a mark, that even he might not have been able to find himself. From the beginning, it is clear that this task is a bit too big for the film – which is divided into four chapters (“Simplify”, “Demand”, “Hint” and “Secret”) – and any answer that is not an unequivocal solution will be tantamount to disappointment. It’s just that Greenspan is so invested in trying to do it, and comes so close, that he really almost gets there. And thanks to this, “The Riddle of Shoshani” already has two heroes: the brilliant hobo, and the director who is not ready to take “no” for an answer.

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