Yannick

We've all been to the theatre and wondered what we were doing there? Rarely, though, have any of us stood up to complain about the lacklustre performance directly to those on the stage. Well "Yannick" (Raphaël Quenard) does precisely that moaning that he's taken a day off work and spent his time and money on their presentation of "Le Cocu" that's not exactly enthralling him. Initially the talent engage, then they send him packing. Undeterred, he returns shortly afterwards with a gun, demands a laptop, a printer and devises a script for them to improve on their efforts. Yes, it's all fairly far-fetched and for a while I wasn't sure whether "Yannick" was actually the fourth cast member of the ensemble in to shake things up a bit. Certainly, the theatre goers never look very intimidated by their "captor". It is that ambiguity and an entertaining Quenard rendition that makes this quite a quirky watch that though it goes on too long, is actually at times quite an innovate piece of characterful cinema-cum-theatre that has just enough of the plausible about it to make it funny sometimes. It runs out of steam completely at the end, but the first forty minutes or so are original and worth a watch.

At 67 minutes length Dupieux's comedy of manners never gets a chance to outstay its welcome. Despite some of the anti-audience sentiments displayed in his cult classic "Rubber" (2010), about a murderous car tyre (I can't believe I just typed those words), we do find him looking after his audience here.

Yannick is a security guard from the burbs who takes a valuable night off to go see a play in central Paris. When he realizes that the play is a piece of sullen middle class scatology, he flips his lid and takes the theatre hostage. I was drawn briefly to wonder what he was expecting from a play called "The Cuckold", it appears in his extreme naivete that he might have been expecting to see some sort of slapstick take on infidelity. I do not think he was a frequent flyer at this particular establishment. In my youth I worked night and weekend shifts, and it is indeed very difficult to have a social life and see the various curiosities and entertainments on offer, not just because of timetabling but also lack of disposal income. So, despite his felonious actions, it is fairly easy to feel sympathetic to Yannick.

Yannick is somewhat of an uneducated rube who would typically lose an argument, even if he was right. At gun point people are forced to be somewhat more open and are less able to scoff or run rings round him than they might otherwise be. The audience and players find it difficult to dodge his suddenly quite wide ranging critiques, which go beyond simply the quality of the play and contain some sort of Marxist-adjacent home-baked philosophizing. One of the traits of his prior movie "Incredible But True" that I really enjoyed was that Dupieux knows (most filmmakers don't know anything about office culture), that many office laptop jockeys spend an inordinate amount of time mucking about. Here an audience member is forced to reveal an embarrassing sexualized password and has a saucy desktop wallpaper, maybe he missed the sexual harassment training at work? Maybe one day labourers work out that many "wfh" bureaucrats are clocked off, slippers off, and perfecting the art of espresso making, on multiples of labourer salary. This kind of class dynamic is something that Yannick is close to unravelling, and he is doing so whilst holding a gun.

The movie is a midly chilling chiselling away at the cosmetics of contemporary culture amongst the liberal middle classes. Lift up a log and all sorts of creepy crawlies are underneath. Yannick creates the type of play he would like to see and it's actually quite moving to see him weep as something he has created is enacted. It's a movie that questions one's assumptions and the status quo, it's bright and breezy and well worth your time.

Quentin Dupieux's absurd, disjointed and fanciful humour gives way here to the absurdity of the situation in a palpable reality. A radical change of tone compared to his previous films that really feels good. Touching, sincere and magical, Yannick is a breath of fresh air in a world of comedy that is constantly muttering. Social criticism, comedy criticism, criticism of the public, criticism of the creator in his relationship to the work as well as the public.

The actors are excellent in bad actor, the audience faithful to itself and Raphaël Quenard embodies so well a Yannick full of surprise and who with simple words summarizes so well the mediocre of the situation. Yannick is in the political background, the service is no longer satisfactory, the art is taken in hand by a representative of the people, a true pirate, passionate about sincerity, passionate about justice. And it does better, gives meaning and reminds us that we sleep, we're asleep. But how long has it been? An echo more than real with our life, our situation in front of the ambient mediocrity.

The finale is as magnificent as it is frightening in its latest plan, a confrontation of reality and a system that is complete in its status quo confronting the underlying violence of society. But we do not have to see this aspect to get a kick, Yannick is simple, funny, really funny and especially really well done. Personally I love Quentin's films, but it's hard to see for someone who doesn't usually like the absurd. Here the form, like history, everyone can follow it, everyone can understand and it is done brilliantly, a true little subversive and sincere jewel, to see urgently.

This film, as is often the case with Quentin Dupieux, leaves you a little disconcerted. The sudden ending prohibits any step back from the story that has just unfolded. The first half will surely make you laugh with its zaniness. The second half, turning to the taking of hostages by this individual who has become threatening, is less funny. We're looking for the message, but there doesn't seem to be any. We deride the troublemaker, the mediocrity of the actors, the cowardice of the spectators. Without any real conclusion.

I am sure that all theatre actors will shudder as they perhaps recall a similar experience of a provocateur interrupting the play they are performing. A sabotage that more twists and turns could have made exciting. Far too many films are at least an hour too long. This one could add additional time.

This movie it's great, it's a medium-length project with I think so a low budget and let me to tell you that you don't need to have a great budget to spending a good moment in front of cinema project cause this one it's very entertaining !!!

First to all the pitch it's interesting and the script who make the project it's cool, you have to feel patient throughout the story but at the end the movie got several messages and I appreciated that. What's more the movie it's short so it's more easy to get patient and that project made me laugh many times !!!

It's good to have in our industry a different director, as Quentin dupieux who make Medium-length movie instead of long movie, it change a bit and his kind of directing it's enough different that other directors and it's nice to see something else even if for me it's not great shoots but pretty much easier shoots by him, but he is stand out from other director and that's it's cool !!!

And what beautiful acting from Raphael Quenard he makes a such good performance, I discovered him from this project and this is the new generation from French cinema and it's pleasure to see a different actors with give an other type of acting cause he got his own acting and that's it's cool too but for me he makes a such good performance and I'm so exiting to see his others projects !!!

All credit to rest of cast who played well too

But unfortunately not a real soundtrack too bad, with a better script why not to do it even if for me it's was enough to get into the story but I think so it could better but it stay a good script though.

I spent a nice moment in front this movie and this is the third times that I watched this project but it's not a masterpiece neither but it's a very good good project !!!!