MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES:
In the middle of a performance of the play “Le Cocu,” Yannick interrupts the show to take the evening back in hand. He demands to be entertained but is rejected and ridiculed.Content collapsed.
REVIEW:
The French filmmaker, Quentin Dupieux has his own officially recognized film genre in his native country. Dupieuxien films are absurdist, with a idiosyncratic approach that mixes high-concept plots with a tone best described as deadpan surrealism. And only he makes them- and makes them frequently. He turns out two features a year because he often is his own one band- he writes, directs, shoots and edits every film he makes.
Yannick, his latest, is also probably his most mainstream. It’s barely over an hour running time, one set production design and tiny but nimble ensemble cast don’t require much cinematic investment. The French audience would get the joke that Yannick is both a satire and inversion of théâtre de boulevard ). So would most theater fans and arthouse viewers. The general audience reading this blog must rely on me, the critic who does his research to provide an explanation.
Théâtre de boulevard (think off Broadway) plays are mostly comedies with simply drawn characters that avoid controversial subjects. They’re usually sex comedies revolving around infidelity being discovered. La Cage Aux Folles and George Feydeau romps are their more famous examples. The French audience would know the play title, The Cockfold would be typical Théâtre de boulevard fare.
Yannick starts with a theater audience viewing a particularly vapid example of Théâtre de boulevard.
It gets to the cuckold reveal to unveil its big twist. Yannick (Raphael Quenard), a bored and bitterly disappointed theater viewer would object and hijack both the play and the audience. To reveal anything more would spoil the movie.
Yannick takes a little bit of time to get use to its offbeat style. When it does get going, it has a decent amount of suspense, twists and some good laughs. Like most of Dupieux’s movies, it feels incomplete- a film with a strong premise stranded by a writer and director who doesn’t or is unable to think it through and flesh it out completely. It can be sightly disappointing and even appear lazy. It’s normal to leave a Dupieux feeling a bit cheated. It’s hard to like a comedy that refuses to deliver its punchline.
Quenard is the star and he appropriately hijacks Yannick. His banileau country accent makes him appear more working class proletarian than the snooty arrogant Parisian audience and professional actors on stage. Dupieux uses the contrast to bring a little class conscious prejudice to the foreground. Like other things Dupieuxien it’s exists just in hints.
Yannick’s virtue is leanest. Dupieux hurries it all along, saying what he has to say than moving on. The feeling is all that matters, the context is yours to figure out. Yannick knows how it wants you to feel, and that’s sort of enough.
Yannick gets a 3.0/5 or a B. It’s streaming on Mubi.
CREDITS:
Directed by
Written by
Quentin Dupieux
Produced by
- Quentin Dupieux
- Thomas Verhaeghe
- Mathieu Verhaeghe
- Hugo Selignac
Starring
- Raphaël Quenard
- Pio Marmaï
- Blanche Gardin
- Sébastien Chassagne
Cinematography
Quentin Dupieux
Edited by
Quentin Dupieux
Production
companies
- Atelier de Production
- Chi-Fou-Mi Productions
Distributed by
Diaphana Distribution
Release date
- 2 August 2023(France)
Running time
67 minutes[1]
Country
France
Language
French
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