Deerskin

Who knows what goes through the mind of a recently separated middle aged man, but if you want an insight into one such gentleman, one with a suede fetish (haven't we all in various interpretations of that word), a penchant for jacket genocide and an ever so slight psychological, psychopathic derangement, then look no further. Jean Dujardin plays an aging buck who impulsively scalps his way through events with the edited financial assistance of the ever elegant Adèle Haenel. Extremely gamy, an acquired taste perhaps.

Well, that was a neat, little, indie experimental film and now I'll be sure not to wear a jacket in France.

The trailer calls this "Wickedly Funny." I did not laugh once, or recognize any humor in this movie. For me, this was a very short film about a man extremely ill and his continual journey into the abyss while he still grasps for more and more.

Georges is a man who's left everything behind to pursue...unclear, but what is known: he sought out a used deerskin jacket he wildly paid too much for and because of that, the seller throws in a video camera. Georges lands at a hotel and the cons are on. He's simultaneously "making a film" and is aware his jacket wants him all to its lonesome. At any cost.

Very well shot, acted, intense, unpredictable and enormously original, I would recommend this very quick gem just to see a different kind of "protagonist." A very ill one.

***

Final thoughts: I hadn't known this was going to become a horror. Technically, it's not, but it does get violent and gory integral to the plot.

What a strange movie, not sure everybody will enjoy this kind of story. But if you like a bit of bizarre then Le Daim (or Deerskin) is certainly worth watching. I did enjoy it and so did my American wife, so it's not necessary only for French people. Jean Dujardin proves he can play something else than in is award winning movie The Artist. There are basically only two actors that matter in Deerskin, Jean Dujardin and Adèle Haenel, and they both did a very good job. The complicity between both characters was what made this movie entertaining, plus the oddly strange monologues between a man and his jacket. I wasn't sure about this movie before watching it but I'm glad I watched it. Give it a go if you're not afraid of something completely different.

My second favorite Quentin, the unreasonably unknown one, has orchestrated yet another pleasantly weird movie, one that's completely self-aware and happy in its highly amusing absurdism. It's almost like an unprecedented hybrid "The Twilight Zone episode", with good amount of pitch-black comedy. Absurdist films often fight for meaning with great struggle, but "Deerskin" definitely has something to say as well.

It has come to Georges' (Jean Dujardin) attention that there is a smooth, awesome, tempting suede deerskin jacket out there waiting for its new owner, so he empties his & his wife's bank account and goes on a trip to success. He immediately falls madly in love with the jacket, and as a bonus, the seller also offers him a camcorder, which will come in very, very handy. Obsession doesn't end here, as Georges sets out to acquire a full set of everything-deerskin, and also meets an editor and cinema enthusiast Denise.

On the background of it being as bizarre and (substantially) dark as it is, "Deerskin" rolls on with admirable confidence, the rather short time goes by fast and overall I'd call it a neat film. For a horror movie, and let's not argue if it is or isn't one , "Deerskin" has a very clean, light, pastel-colored cinematography, no intrusive editing decisions, simple and clean, plus a full, wide aspect ratio. Additionally, the entirety of it is filmed in the charms of rural France. Within these aesthetics, we follow our main character brought on exquisitely by the well-known, Oscar-winning veteran actor Jean Dujardin. Dujardin plays a character who has some of the problems Jack did "The House that Jack Built", a sociopath willing to scheme to get exactly what he wants, and go well overboard on absurd levels to appease his own and his jacket's wishes. Yes, both. In fact, "Deerskin" reminds of Lars Von Trier in more than couple ways.

With the camcorder in his hands, Georges quickly aspires to do some filmmaking, and enlists Denise, an editor, to help him with his art project - I'll avoid spoilers I deem necessary to avoid. Between the two characters/actors, a quite interesting chemistry establishes quickly, and is important for the rest of the movie. The lesson or commentary that "Deerskin" embodies is not laid out or defined for us, but, in my opinion, it satisfyingly ends entirely finished right when needed, and it is now up to You to find it out!

A hard to categorize film, a small surrealists/absurdist achievement, a darkly fun movie, an intriguing cinematic exercise, that's "Deerskin", from the ever amazingly odd mind of Quentin Dupieux, who really, truly should be more recognized. My rating: 7/10.

It is easy to see it as a dark comedy. As a parable, in same measure. As an eccentric story, admirable served by Jean Dujardin.

In fact, its realism represents the main virtue.

A jacket, its owner, their dialogue and a simple sort of friendship with a young waitress. And the result of this relation , the violent side of his bizarre desire and the perfect end .

A film demanding the honesty from viewer , because the absurd situations are just pieces of coherent large puzzle , reminding ordinary temptations animating near reality.