The Second Act
Summary
Quentin Dupieux premier his quirky comedy , The Second Act(Le Deuxième Acte ) , to a bunch of eager film lovers at the 77th Cannes Film Festival . The director continues to leverage the artwork of mise en abyme , where his characters are shooting a movie within this feature and dissecting the state of the film industry . A highly restrained examination of multiple topics , The Second Actis a cinema about everything and nothing all at once . Perhaps in line with Dupieux ’s style , the surreal , dark humor and commentary farm a mussy ending product that overstays its welcome .
Florence wants to stick in David , the man she ’s madly in love with , to her father Guillaume . But David is n’t attract to Florence and wants to throw her into the arms of his friend Willy . The four of them fit in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere .
Dupieux’s Quirky Script About Filmmaking Results In Only Occasional Laughs
There are plenty of laughs to be had throughout Dupieux ’s odd feature , which often includes quaternary wall bits and formal discussions about an evolve film industry . This film stars Léa Seydoux , Vincent Lindon , Louis Garrel , and Raphaël Quenard as four role player spud a third - pace motion picture at an isolated eating house in the middle of nowhere . David ( Garrel ) and Willy ( Quenard ) are en route to meet Florence ( Seydoux ) when they think of a plan to finish David and Florence ’s relationship because of her overwhelmingly clingy behavior . Firenze , on the other hand , is preparing to present David to her beginner , Guillaume ( Lindon ) .
My biggest beef with this cinema , especially with its exercise of mise en abyme , is Dupieux switching between the two existence too quickly — and right when things become more interesting .
Just as quickly as filming begin , so does the bickering — the offbeat funniness point to poke sport at an evolving industry . Due to insensitive , improvised dialogue from Willy , David frequently interjects to preclude them both from getting canceled . ( The television camera are still rolling , after all ) . Meanwhile , Guillaume is intimately ready to give up on pretend altogether as he perceives the industry to be nearing its destruction . InThe Second Act’sfunniest scene , Stéphane ( Manuel Guillot ) ca n’t seem to put away his nerves to dish as an duplicate when the plot moves along , detain the photographic film even further .
Cast
The Second Act Has Various Themes But Fails To Say Anything Profound
All together , these characters make up an interesting cast that exists to discuss various issue like cancel refinement , the # MeToo movement , artificial intelligence in filmmaking , and mental health in the film industry . But with so many important topic , The Second Actultimately neglect to say much about them at all . Whether Dupieux intended to include these concepts in his playscript as a basis to poke playfulness at “ wokeness ” is n’t an result . It ’s the fact that it ensue in a littered story , during which the lines are glaze over , and nothing profound comes of it .
The hollow examinations of significant idea give this French drollery an uncomplete , muzzy experimentation that does n’t know when to quit .
My braggart gripe with this plastic film , peculiarly with its employment of mise en abyme , is Dupieux switch between the two worlds too apace — and right when thing become more interesting . He does n’t lease us concentrate the theme within each mankind long enough to worry about what ’s function on . Even at the turn point of the film within the film , whiplash is in full essence thanks to sudden shifts in reality . The ensue conflict feels like a last - minute of arc addition meant to floor us instead of one think to build up tension and make important commentary .
other scene inThe Second Actpromised a quirky and funny dissection of the film industry . However , the hollow interrogation of important theme render this French comedy an uncompleted , muddled experiment that does n’t know when to drop out . To be forthright , Dupieux ’s latest had tremendous potential drop but fail to dive deeply into AI as it pertains to quality filmmaking . It ’s as if an entire act was missing , and the humor overstay its welcome . Even though the actors do all they can to spin around us in , this is a film that want to say everything without saying anything .
The SecondActpremiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival .
