French Film Review: Daaaaaali!

“To write and direct this tribute, I connected with Salvador Dalf’s cosmic consciousness and let myself be guided, eyes closed.” So says director Quentin Dupieux. Journalist Judith Rochant (Anaïs Demoustier) has been tasked with interviewing the legendary artist, Salvador Dalí. All she needs to do now is pin him down. What begins as a planned 15-minute conversation quickly unfolds into an expansive documentary portrait. As her interview is continually delayed and disrupted by Dalí’s boundless ego and eccentricities, Judith soon finds herself becoming the subject.
Dupieux’s latest comedy is a surrealist homage, with twists and reversals that pull the rug out from under us at every turn. Although short at 1 hour and 17 minutes, the film is packed with quirky, surreal scenes, including sitters donning bizarre prosthetics to pose for Dalí. And it is perhaps apt that Dalí’s famously flamboyant ego is portrayed by no fewer than five actors – Edouard Baer, Jonathan Cohen, Gilles Lellouche, Pio Marmaï, and Didier Flamand – in what is a kaleidoscopic portrayal of the artist.
“The film is as much a tribute to Dalí as it is inspired by Buñuel’s cinema which makes sense, given their relationship,” says Dupieux. “But also anachronistically, it’s a tribute to the cinema of the Monty Pythons. There’s a freedom in their films that has always delighted me. It’s comedy that’s at once demanding and completely idiotic.”
This film is certainly highly entertaining, and just as surreal and eccentric as the man himself. “As Dalí himself said, his personality was probably his greatest masterpiece. My film modestly tells that story,” muses Dupieux.
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Anaïs Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche, Édouard Baer
From France Today Magazine
Lead photo credit : Dali CR Atelier de Production_Frances 3 Cinema
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