Daaaaaalí!

A film about Salvador Dalí that is not a biography. Judith is a journalist. She wants to interview Dalí. He agrees, then refuses. She proposes a documentary; this time something else goes wrong. The camera is set up, Dalí arrives in his car and drives over the equipment. The film consists of those attempts repeating. The same scene starts again in different forms and is never completed. The most striking choice is the casting: six different actors play Dalí. Sometimes two of them appear in the same scene, and the film does not explain it. The narrative does not run straight. A dream enters another dream, sections swallow themselves, and the viewer loses track of which layer they are in. The idea is that this man's story cannot be told and trying to tell it is absurd in the first place. It is short, around seventy-five minutes. Anaïs Demoustier plays Judith; the actors playing Dalí include Édouard Baer, Gilles Lellouche, Jonathan Cohen and Pio Marmaï. Quentin Dupieux directed. The music is by Thomas Bangalter. An enjoyable production for anyone who likes absurd comedy and formal play. For a viewer expecting a biography, the film refuses that on purpose and supplies no information at all.