An ambitious journalist tries to shoot a film on Salvador Dalí in a phantasmagoria by today’s leading French absurdist director, Quentin Dupieux.
Pharmacist, journalist, and baker Judith (Anaïs Demoustier) has decided to write an article about the legendary Salvador Dalí. But the famous artist is conceited and picky and demands that she make a film about him instead, and that she does it using the largest camera in the world. With the blessing of her editor (Romain Duris), Judith accepts Dalí’s conditions. But each attempt to shoot a film about the great creator ends in failure.
A prolific filmmaker (and a successful electronic musician known as Mr. Oizo), Dupieux has released a number of original and fantastic movies in recent years on topics ranging from the adventures of a suede coat connoisseur (Deerskin, 2019) to attempts by two losers to monetize a giant fly (Mandibles, 2020). With Dupieux’s unique vision and approach (he writes the scripts, films, edits, and scores his films himself), Salvador Dalí seems to be a perfect subject for his movie. The enfant terrible of Spanish art worked at the intersection of art forms, just like Dupieux mixes genres, techniques, and realities in his films. The famous artist is played by Édouard Baer, Jonathan Cohen, Gilles Lellouche, Pio Marmaï, and Didier Flamand (hence the extra «a”s in the title). Faithful to his style, Dupieux has made another film where the only thing you can predict is its unpredictability.
Daaaaaalí!
Director: Quentin Dupieux
France, 2023. 77 min. 16+