Incredible but True

Absurdism is comedy’s red-headed step-child.  It doesn’t take quite as much skill to pull off and often passes for a clever sort of satire…even if its target isn’t quite clear.  Director Wes Anderson has made an entire career out of keeping audiences guessing, buoyed by incredible set design and big-name actors.  Quentin Dupieux, on the other hand, doesn’t have a fraction of the resources, but comes up with something far more effective in Incredible but True (1922), a 74-minute spoof of our cultural obsession for eternal youth that plumbs surprising emotional depths. 

Alain and Marie, a late middle-aged couple, have finally purchased their first home.  Besides a large master bath and stunning deck, the property has one unique selling point: a manhole-sized opening in the basement that transports you 12 hours in the future…and reverses your age by three days.  Marie quickly becomes obsessed, spending most of her life in another time zone in an attempt to reclaim her youth.   Alain refuses to participate,  too occupied by his job and self-absorbed boss, Gerard, whose malfunctioning electronic penis – available exclusively in Japan – has brought his burgeoning mid-life crisis to a screeching halt.

 

In synopsis, Incredible but True sounds even more ridiculous than an episode of Rick and Morty.  But Dupieux and his actors ground it in a fractured reality that seems all-too recognizable.  It doesn’t take much digging to uncover the metaphor in question.  Gerard’s prosthetic “upgrade” is simply a physical expression of his emotional inferiority complex.   But what’s surprising is how painful Marie’s choice of eternal youth over a comfortably predictable life feels.  Contentment, Dupieux’s film seems to say, is all about moderation.  And maybe a game of Asteroids now and then.

 

Available from Arrow Video on Blu-ray with interviews, trailers and an appreciation of Dupieux’s film by critic Elena Lazic, Incredible but True is easy to recommend as a blind buy.  It’s the sort of film that makes you feel like part of an exclusive club for those who appreciate, dare we call it, elevated comedy. 

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