UPDATE: My intel was correct. Dupieux’s film will be opening the 77th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 14. It will be playing out of competition. It’s been retitled “Le Deuxième Acte” (“The Second Act”).
EARLIER 04.01.24: Quentin Dupieux has directed five films in the last three years. He’s prolific, and, while some find his brand of farcical surrealist cinema not to their tastes, Dupieux does have a large following in France.
I’m now hearing his next film, “A Notre Beau Métier,” is going to be opening the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. The announcement will be made tomorrow morning. It might be Dupieux’s starriest project yet as the cast features Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon, and frequent collaborator Raphaël Quenard. Perfect for a red carpet opening.
The film was shot in January! Seydoux claims, “Quentin offered me the film two months ago, the filming was done straight away, and we only filmed for two weeks! Here’s her description of the synopsis (translated from French):
“It’s a farce set around actors who star in a terrible film. Actors facing their characters and lines head-on. Vincent Lindon plays an actor, he’s also my father in the film. There is also Raphaël Quenard and Louis Garrel. The film is crazy. Very, very funny.
Seydoux says she accepted to star in the film because she admired Dupieux’s “humor” and films. And, why wouldn’t she? There’s always something to like about his films. His most famous one, at least in the U.S, was “Rubber” which was quite literally about a killer car tire. I found this past year’s “Yannick” to be his best one yet— although I’ve only seen around half of the 14 features he’s directed, so far.
Is “The Exorcist” truly the greatest horror film ever made, or has time crowned a new champion of fear? Maybe it’s “The Shining,” ‘Texas Chainsaw,’ “Psycho,” or something entirely unexpected that still keeps you up at night.