AFI Fest review: Deerskin kookily contemplates the clothes that make us
Deerskin doesn’t give any answers as its absurdist humor looks at the nature of consumerism and how we become one with our things.
Deerskin was a blind watch at this year’s AFI Fest. I went in knowing little about director Quentin Dupieux, short of the fact that he was the man behind the bizarre feature Rubber from 2010, the story of a sentient tire who leaves a string of devastation in its wake. But even knowing that failed to adequately prepare me for what Deerskin is. A bizarre, absurdly comical tale of one man and the jacket that compels him to kill, Deerskin is an offbeat story of isolation and consumerism that’s accessible if you’re open to it.
With a large, graying beard and a case of dad bod, you’d be surprised to realize our leading man is Oscar-winner Jean Dujardin. His mega-watt smile is tempered here as he plays Georges, a lonely man who travels to a small local village to escape what is alluded to be a bad relationship. He decides to spend a large sum of money on an authentic vintage jacket made of deerskin, not caring that the purchase will leave him scrambling for money at every turn, right down to eating out of the garbage.
Georges’ life is seemingly measured in B.D. and A.D. (before and after deerskin). He spends his day admiring the jacket on every surface he comes into contact with, commenting on how it enhances his “killer style” and recording things on a small digital camcorder thrown in with the purchase.
At barely over an hour, the film takes its time leading the audience into the woods that is its narrative. The audience never gets to know Georges beyond the fact that he’s fled his previous city at the request of a paramour, and even then that might be suspect considering his mental state throughout the rest of the movie. He’s committed to purchasing the jacket by any means necessary, and he’s an adept liar, telling a local waitress (Adele Haenel) that he’s a filmmaker on a shoot.
With the most cursory of background developed for the two leads, the film falls into a leisurely build-up toward…. something. It’s apparent that Georges has issues; he vacillates between talking in a deep, husky voice that’s meant to be the jacket’s and answers the questions the “jacket” asks him. So it isn’t too much of a stretch when Georges finally turns to murder to fulfill his life’s dream, as well as that of the jacket: to have the deerskin coat be the only one in existence.
It’s to the movie’s benefit that it feels so slight because it rises to the heights of inanity, and Dujardin is all for it! He never winks at the camera despite Georges’ slow subsuming to the jacket. Much like the frog that doesn’t know he’s being boiled to death, Georges starts covering himself in deerskin, from pants to gloves to a hat, and always believes he is firmly in control.
The script intentionally leaves you questioning whether the jacket has any sentience or not, though if the movie was just Georges’ being crazy that’d be humorous enough. Like his previous work on The Artist, Dujardin knows his way around comedy. Every line he says is peak self-aggrandizement, from the way he keeps repeating he has “killer style” to finding ways to bring up his jacket in polite conversation.
At the same time, he’s complemented by Haenel as the burgeoning film editor/waitress who finds Georges fascinating. Haenel plays Denise as a woman who doesn’t blink twice at Georges’ eccentricities, rolling her eyes before taking off her own jacket in his presence. But, as with Georges, there are questions regarding how much Denise knows.
Based on the ultimate denouement of the movie there’s just as much evidence there that Denise herself is just as messy and frightening as Georges could be. Is the jacket turning everyone mad or is it simply a conduit for what is already there?
Deerskin is not for everyone. It is aimless and can feel weird in the worst ways. Once it falls into murder and mayhem, it becomes as accessible as the best horror movies out there. I can’t say where this falls in with Dupieux’s previous work but it’s made me interested to seek out more.
Next. AFI Fest review: The Friend draws more sighs than tears. dark