Review of 'Mandibles'

Quentin Dupieux will never fully escape from the legacy of his 1999 smash hit video and track "Flat Beat", which he apparently recorded in just two hours. Yet now as a bona fide film-maker he goes from strength to strength; his 2020 film Mandibles (in French Mandibules) is a quirky comedy with its own deranged logic, a "Bill and Ted go South France" if you will. A comparison which is only encouraged by the long Keanu hair of Manu (Grégoire Ludig) and the curly Alex Winter hair of Jean-Gab (David Marsais). These two reprobates are well-known in French comedy circles but new to me, since the early 2000s they have been making internet and television shows, the most famous one being Palmashow. So they work together well after years of practice and they are a perfect foil here for the Dupieux's rather unique absurdist sense of humour.

Dupieux moved from music to making music videos and then inexorably onwards to feature length films, his first being the 2010 comedy horror Rubber. Believe it or not, it is about a car tyre that kills people ... and it is damn hilarious! Having watched that one and also Reality (Réalité, from 2014) I didn't really know what to expect from this film since Dupieux's style is so abstract. Nevertheless, by the end of Mandibles I was pleasantly surprised, the ridiculous premise holds for the whole film, so props for Dupieux for helming it. As well as being writer-director here, he is editor and cinematographer, and it all works out great, since he successfully brings the bleached out warmth of the Mediterranean to the screen.

The crazy madcap duo of Jean-Gab and Manu embark on an adventure when Manu is hired by a mysterious mafia dude to deliver a package, yet things quickly go off piste when he discovers a dog-sized fly living in the boot of the car he has just stolen. Hmm what? Yes, I did say dog-sized fly. BZZZZ BZZZZ. Jean-Gab has the (possibly) genius idea to take the fly captive and train it to do tricks like a performing dog. I mean how can they fail to make their fortune ... what could go wrong? So they park up in a quarry in the countryside and get down to some serious training sessions. The story then bumps along with a series of madcap lurches. Meanwhile the fly puts in a great, understated performance.

For me, the most enjoyable development amongst a sea of weird twists is when Cécile (India Hair) mistakenly recognises Manu and invites the duo back to her vacation home. Mayhem ensues, how could it not when they have a massive fly in tow which they are trying to keep concealed? In this section, there's a standout supporting role for Adèle Exarchopoulos playing Agnès and also Belgian rapper Roméo Elvis pops up as Cécile's brother.

Overall this isn't exactly a movie to set the world on fire but it was an enjoyable romp, so it still gets a solid four out of five from me. It is very important that we have people like Dupiuex who are creating art for the sake of it and not for money. I'm reading on IMDB that his next one is 'Incredible But True' which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival back in February. It's about a couple moving into their dream house in the suburbs and then they find something crazy in the basement. It's gotta be a fly right?

Roll on part deux! An in any case, I'm looking forward to whatever Dupieux does next.

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