I think that most people would describe a film by Quentin Dupieux as ‘weird’. I find them almost impossible to describe to someone else to a person unfamiliar with his work; someone who expects a ‘normal’ story.
Mr Dupieux’s films haven’t smashed box office records and most of them haven’t had a cinematic release here in Australia. Yet, they are made and I love them because they help me see and think differently about the world.
A Quentin Dupieux film hasn’t yet made anyone a billionaire and most people in the world wouldn’t have seen them. Of those that have seen them, most probably wouldn’t have enjoyed them or even ‘understand’ them. With that kind of expected response, why bother making them at all?
So, Dupieux could just dream up the ideas but never take the next step to make the films he makes because it would all just be too hard, to sell the idea and then to fund it. But, one of the lessons from Dupieux films is that it’s not always about commerce. It’s about saying something to someone else by working out what you think and feel through whatever medium helps you. Chances are if that process helps you, it might help someone else. Not everyone. But someone.
No matter how obscure or weird, if Quentin Dupieux follows through with ideas, maybe I should to. Like him, if I do it for long enough, some people, the right people, will probably notice and may even enjoy them.