August 13, 2023
FILM: INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE
DIRECTED BY: QUENTIN DUPIEUX
STARRING: ALAIN CHABAT, LEA CRUKER, BENOIT MAGIMEL
RATING: 2 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Incredible but True is a strange film from French director Quentin Dupieux that has an interesting premise but ultimately doesn’t do enough with it. Alain and Marie are a middle-aged couple looking for a new house when their realtor takes them to a home that has an unusual extra feature: It contains a duct in the basement which, if one travels down, takes them twelve hours into the future. If that isn’t enough, it also de-ages them by three days. They’re initially as perplexed as we are especially since the duct leads to their own home with no discernible logic in spatial relations. So, this is science fiction, right?? Well, sort of.
There isn’t any clear explanation for why this phenomenon occurs. Suffice to say, Dupieux is more interested in the philosophical implications of such a possibility and decides to have some fun with it. Alain doesn’t have much use for the duct but Marie decides to travel down as often as possible so she can become younger and the model she’s seemingly always wanted to be. This, of course, creates an interesting dynamic between the couple. Alain finds her behavior a bit insane while Marie becomes increasingly obsessed with her mission.
A sub-plot involves Alain’s boss Gerard who has experimented with his own destiny by replacing his penis with an electronic “dick.” The new member operates via a cell phone just like many people use to turn off their lights and turn on their cars today. But, like all good electronic devices, it is prone to defectiveness. This leads to a series of disappointing relationships with women…as you might imagine.
Less than an hour into this 74-minute film, Dupieux uses a series of flash forwards to jump ahead in time as we witness the de-aging of Marie and the problems Gerard encounters with his penis. Some of these are a bit funny, others are downright sad. It’s a curious choice to move the narrative in this way as the future plotlines are not really developed and seem largely incomplete. What we get is a series of very short scenes that take place over several years with no dialogue but a whimsical score that soon overstays its welcome.
So, what is Dupieux trying to tell us. It seems that he wants us to examine whether such advances and worm holes are worth it or not. Just because we can create an electronic penis, should we? If we can travel through time, would it be a good idea? Shouldn’t we just let nature be? It’s an interesting idea to contemplate, I just wish Dupiuex did more with it than he does here. Sure, we see glimpses of the effect of Marie’s choices but they aren’t fleshed out enough. There could have been some really intriguing additional scenes to expand on the story. Instead the narrative feels wrapped up a bit too quickly as if we’re watching an extended short film.
There’s also an unusual blurred quality to many of the shots in the film. Perhaps Dupiuex wants to illustrate that this is a warped version of reality. Perhaps, but the grainy nature of the cinematography at times becomes a bit distracting and unnecessary.
I didn’t dislike this film by any stretch. I just wish more of its ideas were developed out into something that feels more complete.
Incredible but True is currently streaming on MUBI.
FILM: INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE
DIRECTED BY: QUENTIN DUPIEUX
STARRING: ALAIN CHABAT, LEA CRUKER, BENOIT MAGIMEL
RATING: 2 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Incredible but True is a strange film from French director Quentin Dupieux that has an interesting premise but ultimately doesn’t do enough with it. Alain and Marie are a middle-aged couple looking for a new house when their realtor takes them to a home that has an unusual extra feature: It contains a duct in the basement which, if one travels down, takes them twelve hours into the future. If that isn’t enough, it also de-ages them by three days. They’re initially as perplexed as we are especially since the duct leads to their own home with no discernible logic in spatial relations. So, this is science fiction, right?? Well, sort of.
There isn’t any clear explanation for why this phenomenon occurs. Suffice to say, Dupieux is more interested in the philosophical implications of such a possibility and decides to have some fun with it. Alain doesn’t have much use for the duct but Marie decides to travel down as often as possible so she can become younger and the model she’s seemingly always wanted to be. This, of course, creates an interesting dynamic between the couple. Alain finds her behavior a bit insane while Marie becomes increasingly obsessed with her mission.
A sub-plot involves Alain’s boss Gerard who has experimented with his own destiny by replacing his penis with an electronic “dick.” The new member operates via a cell phone just like many people use to turn off their lights and turn on their cars today. But, like all good electronic devices, it is prone to defectiveness. This leads to a series of disappointing relationships with women…as you might imagine.
Less than an hour into this 74-minute film, Dupieux uses a series of flash forwards to jump ahead in time as we witness the de-aging of Marie and the problems Gerard encounters with his penis. Some of these are a bit funny, others are downright sad. It’s a curious choice to move the narrative in this way as the future plotlines are not really developed and seem largely incomplete. What we get is a series of very short scenes that take place over several years with no dialogue but a whimsical score that soon overstays its welcome.
So, what is Dupieux trying to tell us. It seems that he wants us to examine whether such advances and worm holes are worth it or not. Just because we can create an electronic penis, should we? If we can travel through time, would it be a good idea? Shouldn’t we just let nature be? It’s an interesting idea to contemplate, I just wish Dupiuex did more with it than he does here. Sure, we see glimpses of the effect of Marie’s choices but they aren’t fleshed out enough. There could have been some really intriguing additional scenes to expand on the story. Instead the narrative feels wrapped up a bit too quickly as if we’re watching an extended short film.
There’s also an unusual blurred quality to many of the shots in the film. Perhaps Dupiuex wants to illustrate that this is a warped version of reality. Perhaps, but the grainy nature of the cinematography at times becomes a bit distracting and unnecessary.
I didn’t dislike this film by any stretch. I just wish more of its ideas were developed out into something that feels more complete.
Incredible but True is currently streaming on MUBI.