DEERSKIN Review
We’ve all had that one piece of clothing that we’ve become obsessed with. Whether it be a nice designer tee, a subtly sexy pair of washed jeans (which are maybe a little too tight but whatever you’ll definitely lose a few pounds by the time it arrives), or even a nice hat, there’s always been a piece of clothing that we’ve worn and said to ourselves “Damn, I look good,” and proceeded to vogue in the mirror for about 10 minutes more than necessary. Quentin Dupieux takes this strangely specific feeling and morphs it into his latest odyssey into the bizarre and weird, depicting the relationship between a Frenchman and his obsession with a niche deerskin jacket.
The issue of jacket fashion becomes wholly apparent in DEERSKIN’s first minutes, when we witness our “hero” of the film, Georges (Jean Dujardin), stop at a gas station bathroom and flush his green, nylon jacket down the toilet for some reason. Like other Dupieux films, “for some reason” becomes a recurring statement throughout this tale as Georges subsequently buys the titular deerskin jacket (which also comes with a free digital camcorder) and slowly becomes obsessed and controlled by it. Soon, at the jacket’s request, Georges embarks on a violent crusade against anyone and everyone wearing a jacket that isn’t his, dragging along an interested bartender/aspiring video editor (Adele Haenel) into his twisted mission under the guise that he is making a movie.
And that’s about it in regards to the story; at just a bit over an hour, Mr. Dupieux seemingly has little care or worry for developing this bizarre tale out any longer than need be, instead soaking in the weirdness available. Just as in other films of the eccentric filmmaker, the world of DEERSKIN is filled with “off” characters who face the bizarreness of their surroundings with little more than a shrug or a dry yet humorous observation. At the forefront is Mr. Dujardin, who Mr. Dupieux effectively utilizes at the film’s central weird loser. A man who has seemingly lost his wife in addition to access to their joint bank account, Dujardin, in spite of his grizzled, aged good looks, makes for an effective weirdo going through his mid-life crisis in the strangest of ways. Finding solace in what he deems is a cool jacket (“what killer style!” he constantly says about the deerskin jacket and other deerskin accessories he comes across), Dujardin is game for his character’s strange journey, humorously playing it straight and dry through the entire film. Elsewhere, Mr. Dupieux fills out the creases of the rest of the film with other offbeat characters, most intriguingly that of Ms. Haenel’s intrigued bartender, who will seemingly do anything to edit Georges’ supposed big-budget “movie”.
With such a focus on creating bizarre situations and characters, DEERSKIN never overstays its welcome. As mentioned earlier, this is a quick-bite of a movie, a quick descent into French surrealness where Mr. Dupieux keeps you intrigued with the thought of just how much weirder he can make his film. As in his other works like the killer-tire centric RUBBER or the reality-bending WRONG, Mr. Dupieux creates a film with its own unique flow and rhythm as conversations throw in awkward pauses and observations amid the diluted colors and clinical camera movements of Mr. Dupieux’s own cinematography which fittingly filters a beautiful mountainside town into a plain humdrum center of weirdness. Where DEERSKIN differentiates from other Dupieux works is in the possible themes and narrative that emerge which help the film maintain “a point” for existing, unlike the director’s other “just for giggles” work. Touching on themes of identity, maturity, and even the art of film itself, DEERSKIN teases at these possible meanings while still cheekily side-eyeing the audience; with a filmmaker like Dupieux it’s hard to tell if he truly wants his films to elevate past anything other than their surreal hooks.
Whatever the case may be, DEERSKIN is definitely different from other film offerings out there. It’s a film that operates on its own terms and finds a story and sticks to it all the way to its abrupt if fitting finale. Like its titular article of clothing, DEERSKIN will either fascinate you or leave you confused as to what all the fuss is about, after all it’s just a movie about a dude obsessing over a deerskin jacket. Or is it?
3/5
