Deerskin can both surprise and shock the audience
Quirky and entertaining, the new black comedy Deerskin from French director Quentin Dupieux, both enthrals and captivates its audience.
Based on the unusual concept of a middle-aged man obsessed with his deerskin jacket, Deerskin’s success lies not only in its ‘killer style’, but its bizarre storyline.
The movie begins with the main character Georges, played by Oscar-winning French actor Jean Dujardin (The Artist), separating from his wife and taking a long, circuitous drive into the French alps.
As he drives, Georges fantasises about buying a vintage deerskin, Western-style, fringed jacket, and focuses his quest on achieving this goal.
After arriving at a small isolated village, the subject of his quest becomes apparent and after close inspection, Georges purchases the deerskin jacket of his dreams from an old man in a rundown old farmhouse.
As an added bonus, the old man also throws in a digital hand-held film camera, and Georges’ fate is sealed.
As the movie unfolds, Georges’ love for this particular jacket grows, as does his disdain for other ‘competing’ jackets.
In fact, he spends the entire movie trying to rid the world of all other jackets, as he deems them totally unnecessary.
The only jacket for him is the deerskin one, and despite having his bank account frozen by his ex-wife, Georges begins to create a film about his exploits in which he films himself attempting to remove the offending jackets from their owners.
To assist him in his filmmaking, Georges recruits the help of local barmaid and amateur film editor Denise (Adele Haenel, Portrait of a Lady On Fire), who also provides him with some much-needed funds.
Despite its bizarre storyline, Deerskin works, and the performances of both Dujardin and Haenel are superb.
The effect of the deerskin jacket, which Georges soon accessories with deerskin trousers, a hat and gloves, is both purposeful and destructive.
As the film progresses, Georges descent into madness soon becomes apparent, as does his disregard for human life.
The climax of the film is also surprising and for most of the audience I would think, totally unexpected.
Deerskin is showing exclusively at Luna Leederville from August 6.
By Mike Peeters
Mike Peeters Media