Fugain has just found a body. For Superintendent Buron, charged with taking his statement, Fugain is also the prime suspect. The questioning lasts all night, becoming an interminable head-to-head, bordering on the absurd.
Comedies in general, especially commercial releases, suck. Either they’re lacking wit or trying to process too many real-life issues in a bid to be taken seriously which only contradicts the genre.
In his last few films, Quentin Dupiuex (director/writer/editor/cinematographer) blended multiple genres set in a Kafkaesque universe but always kept comedy in the forefront. Although his running times rarely surpass over 80 minutes, the scripts contained a broad array of ideas and themes. 2019’s horror/comedy “Deerskin” focused on a man becoming so obsessed with his new coat that it drives him to slice and dice his way through a snowy village in the Pyrenees.
With “Keep an Eye Out,” Dupieux maintains his surreal vision but it’s inspired by noir and hard-boiled detective novels. The film was originally released in 2018 and is finally getting a US theatrical release this week.
In a sepia-colored police station, Le Commissaire Buron (Benoît Poelvoorde) is blabbing on the phone, feet up, ignoring any actual work. On the opposite side of Buron’s big feet is Louis (Grégoire Ludig), mustached and wearing a tiki shirt. Earlier, Louis discovered a corpse outside his apartment building and tries to be a decent citizen by filing a report. Buron finally hangs up and they begin to chat. Their banter is cantankerous and funny, “your first corpse, how did you know he was dead?” “I’ve seen lots of live people so it was easy to compare.”
While the dialogue mainly belongs to the two leads, there’s a hilarious supporting character Philipe (Marc Fraize) a partially-subordinate officer who is tasked with chaperoning the suspect while Buron handles personal errands. The longer Luis stays, the more the situation becomes ridiculously complicated.
Dupieux’s screenplay is endlessly clever with an interweaving narrative where the laws of time and space are inapplicable. Exaggerated special effects and simple sets are a reminder that these low-budget productions can easily surpass major studios’ endless use of CGI. Perhaps the future of original comedies rests outside the popular Hollywood system.
In theatres and virtual cinemas nationwide Friday, March 5th
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