This is the director's most linear film, if not his clearest. We know that Quentin Dupieux often, if not almost always, talks about film, the work of art, the way it is made, the impression it makes on the viewer. Here, he questions what a work of art is, and the viewer's relationship to it. Raphaël Quenard watches a play of relatively poor quality as a spectator, and decides to modify and rewrite it. By playing a character we understand to be rather depressed, or more simply not well at all.
The staging is simple and limpid, to highlight the dialogues: both those of the play, and those of Raphaël Quenard's character. A great deal of work has gone into this aspect.
So we're not dealing here with a process that might seem absurd, as in many of the director's films. But in a way, it's a film that explains how to approach all Quentin Dupieux's previous films. Isn't Raphaël Quenard's character Quentin Dupieux? Questioning films and what they're supposed to bring to the viewer. He could stop now and we'd understand all his work.
It's surprising to see the police arrive at the end. This anchors the film in a reality to which Quentin Dupieux has not accustomed us. It's a way of making Raphaël Quenard's observation real.
The staging is simple and limpid, to highlight the dialogues: both those of the play, and those of Raphaël Quenard's character. A great deal of work has gone into this aspect.
So we're not dealing here with a process that might seem absurd, as in many of the director's films. But in a way, it's a film that explains how to approach all Quentin Dupieux's previous films. Isn't Raphaël Quenard's character Quentin Dupieux? Questioning films and what they're supposed to bring to the viewer. He could stop now and we'd understand all his work.
It's surprising to see the police arrive at the end. This anchors the film in a reality to which Quentin Dupieux has not accustomed us. It's a way of making Raphaël Quenard's observation real.