“The Second Act”, presented out of competition but opening on the Croisette, is the third film by the filmmaker to be released in theaters in less than a year. Since 2018, the prolific Quentin Dupieux has continued filming, always applying the same method.
“Even Godard, some years, he made four.” When asked about his impressive productivity, Quentin Dupieux defends himself, in The Parisian, to be a UFO. His films are more so than his method. The 50-year-old filmmaker hasn’t done as well as his New Wave counterpart, but The Second Actscreened at the opening of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday May 14, is his third feature film to hit theaters in less than a year, after Daaaaaali !released in February, and Yannickappeared on screens in August. “I found my rhythm in an industry that is a little slow for my tastes”analyzes the director in The world.
From At office !, released in 2018, Quentin Dupieux filmed a series of times: eight in six years. Because man doesn’t like to waste his time too much. “What we are offered is to write and rewrite a script for a year or two, then prepare it, shoot it, edit it, wait a certain period of time before selling it and, in the end, spending four years on a project I understand, but I, in this configuration, get tired, not of my products, but of my energy.he details in The world.
This desire for speed is not new. He has accompanied him since his beginnings in music under the name Mr. Oizo. “When I make a piece that I think is good, it’s a moment that takes an hour at most”, he says in an interview with the communications agency Racine. When he aspires to get behind a camera, he intends to do it at his own pace. “He couldn’t get a film produced and he needed to shoot. He gets bored very, very quickly. Things always have to happen”laughs his long-time friend and collaborator, Guillaume Le Braz, in the documentary Quentin Dupieux, filming makes you thinkbroadcast on Canal+.
His experience on Steak with Eric and Ramzy, in 2007, “produced according to the rules, with a friendly cinematographer”he recalls in Teleramamakes him aware of the time wasted in discussion with his colleague, “instead of [se] devote to actors”. “He does his own lighting and has done without a cinematographer since Rubber [son deuxième film, centré sur un pneu tueur en série]“, assures producer Thomas Verhaeghe. With his brother Mathieu, the latter runs the company Atelier de production, which has supported the director since At office !. He is therefore at the forefront of this method “quite unique”which is based first of all on undeniable know-how.
On a shoot, Quentin Dupieux often has four positions: screenwriter, director, cinematographer and editor. “He masters cinema techniques, he has been making films for a very long time. He doesn’t let anything slide. And there is not a job on which he lets someone do it for him”admits the producer.
“His speed does not detract from the quality, his experience means that he works quickly and well. A young director would not be able to string together films so easily.”
Thomas Verhaeghe, producerat -
This quadruple hat allows him to reduce the preparation time for a scene and the waiting time between each take, to the great delight of the actors, who jostle on his set. Benoît Poelvoorde, Jean Dujardin, Gilles Lellouche… “It’s a recreation for them, a way to rediscover cinema in its lightness”notes the director in Telerama. Gilles Lelouche spent only 10 days on the set of Smoking makes you cough.
The experience delighted Blanche Gardin: “The fact that it is he who has the eye in the camera and who directs his chief electrician by voice, that eliminates a lot of waiting time. For the actors, it’s great”greets the actress in Filming makes you think. “Inertia is quite common on set, so the actors are quite happy, set-up moments are rare, we move quickly from one scene to another”, agrees Thomas Verhaeghe. But the producer says the stars would also flock if the shoots were longer: “They feel a real desire to discover his universe, we never have too many problems casting his films.”
Because life is good on a Quentin Dupieux set, since the collaborators, like the actors, return regularly. In addition to sound engineer Guillaume Le Braz, the director regularly surrounds himself with his wife, Joan Le Boru, production designer and artistic director, and Renaud Garnier, chief electrician. “There is something very reassuring about being with the right people who understand and who immediately adapt to your way of working”, justifies Joan Le Boru in the Canal+ documentary. But when you arrive on set for the first time, the director’s habits can be disconcerting.
Thus, to Renaud Garnier, for At office !the director asks to question everything he knows, “to forget [ses] principles and [ses] habits” to light a tray, so that they “rewrite” together, says the chief electrician in Filming makes you think. At the Communist Party headquarters in Paris, where the film was shot, they will barely touch the artificial light of the place. “We’re not going to change all that, we’re going to keep it and beautify it”, justifies the filmmaker. From his actors, he very often only asks for the text written by him.
“He leaves little room for improvisation, his scenarios are always very written, even if the actors and actresses are very good improvisers, they are also excellent performers, very happy to have scores which can be exhilarating. “
Thomas Verhaege, producerat -
“I have trouble saying other people’s texts. In general, I rewrite my scores a lot in films, but with Quentin Dupieux, it’s so precise that we don’t want to change anything”, recognizes Blanche Gardin. He also sometimes writes “tailor-made” for an actor, as was the case for the main role of Yannickdesigned for Raphaël Quenard.
This comedy, his biggest success to date with more than 450,000 admissions, was shot in six days, with a budget of one million euros. “Quentin wanted to go quickly with a very short shoot”, assures Thomas Verhaeghe. And here again the filmmaker could have made it simpler, according to his words. “OCouldn’t have shot it with less expensive lenses, friendly extras. Given the simplicity of the device, I could have made further adjustments”he explains in Telerama.
Unlike the character of YannickQuentin Dupieux refuses to take spectators hostage with his films. “I find it extremely pretentious and a bit annoying to lock the audience in for too long. So I like to cut my films to be more accessible”he admits in Point. “I throw a lot of good scenes in the trash! I’m afraid of getting bored, and therefore of boring the spectators”he continues in The Sunday Journal. This speed on set translates into films “which can be more easily squeezed into an evening or during a lunch break, than a three-hour film for which you have to be more organised”smiles Thomas Verhaeghe.
Result: since At office !none of his eight films exceeded a duration of 1 hour 20 minutes. “It makes these kinds of very short formats which for me are perfection. It may be lazy for some or empty for others…” he remarks in The world. The demands he imposes on himself can begin very early on the set. For Daaaaaali!, Pio Marmaï remembers Quentin Dupieux isolating himself in a dressing room, shortly after finishing shooting a scene. For what ? To better think about editing. “He has his film in mind from the writing stage. Once the takes are shot, he regularly checks on a computer in his dressing room to make sure he has what he needs”assures Thomas Verhaeghe.
“I only shoot the essentials. It’s on the wire. There is a risky side because it means that I trust the editor in me”assumes Quentin Dupieux in Filming makes you think. “I’m getting to a stage where I’m never missing anything in editing, but on the other hand, I have very little fat.” This efficiency in doing one’s job quickly has only one goal: to always do more.
“If we make a film every four years, we can’t make many… I want to make thirty more films. That’s why I’m on the run.”
Quentin Dupieux, directorin the world”
And this desire to film is not about to calm down, he assures in the columns of Parisian : “I’m like a guy who loves cycling and can’t stop doing it, I could do three films a year, that would be fun! What is happening to me today, I have been waiting for a long time.” The public should not wait too long before discovering his new project.
