Au poste !

A police station, a suspect interrogated for hours and hours by a nasty inspector..., the scene has been shown over and over in hundreds of crime movies. One could go as far as to consider the thing as a sub genre in itself, its most masterful illustration being Claude Miller's classic "Garde à vue" (Under Suspicion). No one indeed has forgotten tough inspector Lino Ventura psychologically torturing an artful Michel Serrault over a night's time. Well, there is no denying that "Au poste" (Keep an Eye Out) adds to a long long list but the good surprise is that it does it in its own, singular way. One can even affirm that such a "police interrogation movie" has never been seen before! Not so surprising if you take into account the fact that Dupieux has never once made what could be called a "normal" movie, let alone told the type of story that lazily unfurls between a beginning and an end, featuring stereotyped characters with predictable reactions. Such a conversion to stale conventions would in fact have constituted a total disappointment from a man who dared (and managed) to make a film around a... tyre killer ("Rubber") or else about a director who has 48 hours to find the best... groan of pain in film history ("Reality")! Well if conventions and clichés there are, they are here only to be challenged, mocked and demolished. And although one may in a way say that this is Dupieux's "most normal" work of all, you are sure to find a lot of oddities sticking out from the rigid frame of the police interrogation genre: dreams, flash forwards encased in flashbacks and others I will refrain from detailing not to kill the surprise effect. What you'd better not do is mistake "Keep an Eye Out" for a "normal" movie. If you do so, you are likely to be taken aback and reject the whole thing. On the contrary, il you consider it as a reflection on a coded genre, you are on the right track to enjoyment. For, if you look closely, you will find that Quentin Dupieux's last opus works on no fewer than three levels, which is for those who perceive it a threefold source of pleasure:

• a plain crime story which, despite being crossed by whiffs of irrationality, remains basically believable. The situation itself, the story as well as the characters, minus their eccentricities, are indeed quite realistic. Moreover, the dialogues are well written, funny and uttered with talent by two masters of comedy, Benoît Poelvoorde (the bad-ass inspector) and Grégoire Ludig (the helpless suspect), both more sober than they usually are.
• a satire challenging the clichés and set pieces of the sub genre already mentioned: the charmless interior of the police station; the worn out, a bit sadistic interrogator and his dubious jokes ; the suspect maintaining his innocence without being able to prove it, the cigarettes, sandwiches, colleagues dropping in and out, ... It is all here, but in a slightly offbeat, farcical way.
• a commentary on the theatricality of such "in camera" dramas. Dupieux shrewdly plays on the fact that as soon as a murder is committed and suspects are interrogated, each of the protagonists seems to play a role written in advance and is at a loss as to how to extricate themselves from having to live out that role.

To make a long story short, you will find "Keep an Eye Out" either an exciting or a senseless movie, depending on whether you play the game or not. I wish you to be in the second case.

I'm not familiar with Quentin's Dupieux work, but i'm most definitly going to correct that ! It is burlesque as one would hope, the work of the DOP is great and really imersive. The casting is perfect, all in all a great achievement.

If you are aware of the body of work the director has created, you probably don't need to read what I or others have to say. If you are not sure check the biography/filmography of the director. Anything familiar there? This right here may feel familiar but also almost feels "normal", especially considering this has a story that is quite coherent.

I say quite, because there are still a lot of things that are "weird" to put it mildly. You can't even begin to guess all the twists and turns, because we get treated with something unexpected from time to time. I personally love to be challenged like that. You have to know if that is your thing or not. If not, then I'd obviously advice you not to watch this. It would be a waste of time for you and a bad review for the movie obviously.

When I see Benoit Poelvoorde's name on a movie, I always watch. He's become the new Pierre Richard, if you remember The Blond Man With a Brown Shoe from the 70's. Only thing, Poelvoorde is much tougher than the benign Richard. Watching him can be a little exhausting.

Whatever, here we have a surrealist caper masquerading as a police procedural. I think Dupieux must have been influenced by Bunuel and by Argento, for the surreal aspects and the violence. What happens to Philippe in the office has to be seen to be believed (it involves a protractor). The acting is first rate, from Poelvoorde as the bullying detective and Gregoire Ludig as the harried suspect. There's a wonderful turn by Anais Demoustier as Philippe's girlfriend, constantly saying 'actually' to everyone's exasperation. I'll be looking out for more of Dupieux's work.

Definitely a fan of Quentin's ever since I saw Rubber. But I don't know French, and my eyes are getting old and hard to see subtitles now. And that's the BIGGEST problem with this movie, is that the majority takes place in this very bright police office. Much of the white subtitles are washed out by light, white paper on desks, white shirts. VERY hard for me to keep up with and understand whatever was going on. If there were slightly yellow or greyed subtitles, or placed on the ratio bars with a slight change to aspect ratio - or dare I say a 'English dub' version, I think this movie would be a lot better enjoyed and appreciated. As it stands now for us anglophones, it's more a mysterious mystery than a twisted comedy.