Daaaaaali!

Quentin Dupieux, the master of eccentric absurdist farce, pays fervent homage to his idol Salvador Dalí by creating a delightfully inventive, mock-biopic of him. In DAAAAAALI!, five diferent actors step in and out of the role of Dalí seemingly at random, each of a diferent age, but all of them capturing his flamboyant, dandyish demeanour with flair. It’s the mid-1980s: Judith, a young journalist and former pharmacist, claims to be dull but is actually determined to interview Dalí, ignoring the fact that the maestro will only agree to it if he is filmed. Her first attempt is a complete failure, as are the second and third, despite employing ever more elaborate camera set-ups each time. Meanwhile, the master attends a dinner party where a priest recounts a dream that repeats itself over and over again. The film morphs into a hilarious nightmare featuring a dream within a film within a story and so on. We all eventually get caught up in a narrative loop where time and space are subverted at will. Set to Thomas Bangalter’s pounding score, Dupieux’s appropriately surrealistic pastiche seduces us with its quirky artistry, transporting us into a nonsensical world of wonder that perfectly matches the mercurial nature of its hero. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

Quentin Dupieux: NONFILM (2002), STEAK (2007), RUBBER (2010), WRONG (2012), WRONG COPS (2013), RÉALITÉ (2014), AU POSTE! (2018), LE DAIM (2019), MANDIBULES (2020), INCROYABLE MAIS VRAI (2022), FUMER FAIT TOUSSER (2022), YANNICK (2023)