Deerskin opened just before New York City’s COVID-19 lockdown began. At that time, it was impossible to relate the film’s absurdist plot to anything believable. Now, Kino Lorber’s digital and home-video release of Quentin Dupieux’s horror-comedy almost makes sense of the lockdown madness that has descended upon the world.
In a French countryside town that looks recognizably vacant and free of social standards — the opening sequence features several impressionable young people following an unlikely group ritual — a stranger arrives from the city. Georges (Jean Dujardin) seeks to purchase a vintage suede hunting jacket complete with hanging fringe. The seller, an old hermit, throws in a video recorder as an ominous Brothers Grimm–style talisman. Georges tapes himself — and his jacket — like a self-taught introvert.
Comments