Content / Criticism
Alain likes the house (Alain Chabat) and Mary (Léa Drucker) is already quite good with the two floors and the garden, as well as the beautiful location. Yes, they can imagine buying the house. But there is more, as the estate agent tells them. There is a hatch in the basement: whoever goes down into the shaft comes out twelve hours into the future – and has become three days younger. While Alain finds all this strange, but doesn’t care too much about it, Marie is completely obsessed with becoming younger again in this way. Maybe this will even lead to a modeling career? Alain’s boss Gérard (Benoît Magimel) and his partner Jeanne (Anaïs Demoustier) meanwhile have their own equally incredible story to tell …
Longing for admiration
After Quentin Dupieux After having become somewhat scarce for a while and not having made any films at all for several years, he has been The Guard (2018) was extremely busy. Apart from the Corona year of 2020, a new work was released every year. In some cases he even demonstrated an unexpected productivity, shooting two films a year. This was also the case in 2022. It started with Unbelievable but truewhich was presented in February at the Berlinale in the Special Gala section. Three months later, the Frenchman was in Cannes with Smoking Causes Coughing represented. Sure, the films tend to be a little shorter than those of others. And yet it is impressive how naturally and regularly he comes up with absurd ideas.
There are basically two ideas that he combines here. One is the time travel tunnel that becomes a fountain of youth. The other concerns Alain’s boss, who – spoiler alert! – has acquired an electronic penis that does everything he wants via an app. The two stories don’t have anything to do with each other directly: one could have been deleted without affecting the other. But what they have in common is that the respective characters struggle with their natural bodies and want to make themselves more attractive and better in various ways. Unbelievable but true is about people who are going through a kind of midlife crisis, who are dissatisfied and dependent on the admiration of others. In one scene, for example, we see Marie, who really wants to hear from Alain how firm her breasts have become.
The Abyss Behind the Absurd
Of course, Dupieux, who also wrote the screenplay, is making fun of these people. And yet there is something tragic about the way the characters lose themselves in their respective madness and destroy what they have in the process. As is so often the case in films where people are presented with great opportunities, the disadvantages and dark sides only become apparent after some time. This does not only apply to the side effects of these supposed advantages. Unbelievable but true also tells of alienation, both from oneself and within a relationship. Behind the grotesque and surreal events lies a serious core; this is not just a silly fantasy.
Dupieux does not elaborate on these points, although there is a lot of chatter in the film: one of the running gags is how the characters constantly beat around the bush, simply not being able to think of the right words. The same is true of Unbelievable but true overall. The comedy shows a lot, offers the audience material, but leaves it up to them what they ultimately make of it. That will not be enough for some who expect some kind of answer or analysis. Want more than a curious idea. But even if other films by the artist may have made a bit more of an impression, it is still amusing to watch how the characters here throw themselves into the abyss that only at first glance leads to happiness.
Credits
OT: “Unbelievable but true”
IT: „Incredible But True“
Land: France
Year: 2022
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Script: Quentin Dupieux
Music: Jon Santo
Camera: Quentin Dupieux
Occupation: Alain Chabat, Léa Drucker, Benoît Magimel, Anaïs Demoustier, Marie-Christine Orry
Film paint
Berlinale 2022
Sitges 2022
Buy / Stream
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