Director’s Fortnight
His films have been more than hit or miss but with his latest, Le Daim (Deerskin), premiering at 2019’s Quinzaine des Réalisateurs – Cannes’ director’s fortnight programme – it’s easy to see just why Quentin Dupieux is still such an exciting filmmaker.
“I vow to never wear a jacket as long as I live”: we see a handful of youths staring aimlessly into the camera muttering this exact line as they hurl piles of jackets into a small car boot. It’s certainly an unconventional opening; it’s fitting, however, for what follows is an idiosyncratic and wholly original slice of dark-comedy about man’s obsession with the materialistic. And it’s anything but conventional. To best encapsulate this film: amateur filmmaker George (Jean Dujardin) turns to a life of crime when he finds himself ever entranced and obsessed with his new Deerskin jacket – making it his sole mission to rid the world of every other jacket that isn’t his.
If you’re familiar with Dupieux’s traditionally surrealist, anarchic comedies – here’s looking to you, Rubber – then you’ll know this is a filmmaker that snuffs at traditional storytelling. Where La Daim sticks out from his catalogue of films is in its simplicity: narratively, thematically, even tonally. It still has the splashes of insanity we’ve come to expect from the French director’s endeavours but it feels more dialled down. At 77 minutes, it’s a taut affair so doesn’t delve into subplots or much character development beyond the occasional mention of something here and there; as a result, there’s little room for development which can leave the characters feeling a little murky – Georges is a compelling nutcase, with hints of a tragic past but little in the way of tactile development; Denise (Adele Haenel), who embarks with Georges to make his film, similarly feels like untapped potential. Despite little time spent with characters, Dupieux still manages to wear his premise thin by the end; you can’t help but feel the film would have worked far more effectively if the downtime was spent on the people populating the story.
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Yet, La Daim is a bizarre concoction of sadistic humour, delicate storytelling and a witty fashion conceit that somehow manages to stick the landing. Dujardin, at the heart of this unusual film, gives such a loony, decadent performance that is hard not to love; Georges’ descent into insanity comes off a little contrived but Dujardin commits so hard that it’s almost believable seeing this lanky, dishevelled man turn into a psychopath (the prevalent themes of toxic masculinity and our attachment to the material coming to play) – it’s certainly enjoyable, if nothing else. Dujardin has always been a strong comedic performer and he embellishes La Daim with piercing black wit; whether it’s the monotonous voice he gives his jacket in their exchanges or the colourful ways in which he murders people – all with a stone-cold feeling of a man just wanting 0 tolerance for jackets – Dujardin nails Georges’ expressionism to a tee. He manages to find the conviction within this half-cooked, larger-than-life character that Dupieux manages to pull off this absurd story of hyper-masculinity with. The pair are a match made in some unusually kooky heaven here. And it’s quite the treat to witness.
Deerskin (La Daim) was reviewed at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival
