A smart, withheld story about the borders between people, Ulrich Köhler’s self-reflexive “Gavagai” chronicles on-set tensions between the cast and crew of a filmed update of “Medea” and subtle fissures caused by a racist skirmish during its premiere. Its reinterpretation of Euripides’ play has its symbolic limits — intentional and otherwise — but it makes for an effective backdrop to the widely connected world of international art-house cinema and numerous ongoing debates on cultural optics. Rather than fighting this inevitable tide, Köhler closely examines the subject without didacticism, filtering it through a passive-aggressive relationship drama, until only its most potent ingredients remain.
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