There’s an absurdist streak running through Deerskin, the French dark comedy about a man who slowly turns homicidal under the influence of a new – you guessed it – deerskin jacket. Quentin Dupieux (Rubber)’s new film strikes a delicate tone, mashing together the portrait of a man in a mid-life crisis spiral, a gentle critique of DIY filmmaking and a hilariously off-beat slasher film.
After disposing of his cumbersome everyday jacket at a highway rest stop, Georges (The Artist’s Jean Dujardin) drives through the bucolic French countryside for a pre-arranged meeting with an elderly man selling his antique deerskin jacket. Georges’ appreciative and enthusiastic response to the fringed monstrosity is the first hint of Dupieux’s comedic script; our protagonist is so enamored with his “killer style” that he can’t stop himself from constantly admiring his reflection in car and shop windows. He’s also not afraid to raise the subject of his new jacket in conversation with whomever he meets.
The screenplay never explains what prompted Georges’ sudden odyssey, though it is evident that his marriage was in trouble (during a phone call with his unseen wife, she announces that he no longer exists to her). After maxing out his joint account in order to significantly overpay for the jacket to the tune of $7500 Euros (!), Georges may fancy himself a new fashion icon, but he has an immediate – and significant – cashflow problem.
Thankfully the seller also gifts him a camcorder, which prompts Georges to adopt the guise of filmmaker. After bluffing his way through a conversation with amateur editor Denise (Adèle Haenel), who is also the comely local bartender, Georges enlists her help with his burgeoning film project: documenting the elimination of all of the jackets in the world.
Why such a random and frankly ridiculous quest? Because the twist, so to speak, is that Georges’ deerskin jacket is actually sentient, and its greatest wish is to be the only jacket left in the world. Dupieux and Dujardin mostly play Georges’ increasingly delusional and narcissistic ruse with a straight face, which only serves to underscore the film’s absurdist approach to comedy. In one sequence, Georges tries out a variety of different voices, before settling on the one that can be heard speaking to him throughout the rest of the film.
While it is not the film’s main interest, there is a slight tease as to whether is Georges is simply going mad or if the coat actually is supernatural. At one point, the coat calls for Georges’ attention while he is reading and the camera focuses on whomever is speaking and blurs the other (the coat in the background while Georges is in the foreground). Attentive viewers will note that when the coat is supposedly speaking, Georges’ lips are visibly moving. And yet…there is another scene when the coat seemingly speaks to him while he is deep in sleep that could suggest otherwise.
Regardless of whether the deerskin jacket is alive, Dupieux’s script is principally interested in chronicling Georges’ actions as he becomes increasingly fixated on making his “art”. With virtually no funds to work with, Georges dupes Denise into believing that his producers have abandoned him while filming in Siberia so that she’ll provide him funds. He also barters his wedding ring not once, but twice, to the proprietor of the inn where he is staying (the circumstances that allow him to do so is another testament to the dark comedy streak running through the film).
There’s an undeniable critique of the lengths that are sometimes required in order to self-fund a DIY film project, particularly the way that Georges does whatever he can – lies, steals, and, yes, murders – to accomplish his goals. The fact that his lies are so bald-faced and terrible only adds to the film’s appeal.
Add to this Georges’ obsession with continually adding to his deerskin aesthetic in the form of other clothes, thereby rendering him an utterly ridiculous figure as he parades around town, dispatching people for their jackets with a make-shift machete fashioned out of a ceiling fan.
It’s insane, and yet Deerskin is so confidently directed and performed that the film completely works. This is the definition of a “not for everyone” film, as some audiences will undoubtedly yearn for more bloodshed and less comedy. For those with a taste for the absurd, however, Deerskin is an unexpected delight.
