Between the Coen brothers and Monty Python, this crazy comedy reinvents the Dupont de Ligon case!

What is it about?

Leah and Christine are obsessed with the affairs of Paul Bernardin, a man suspected of murdering her entire family and mysteriously disappearing. As they go to investigate the house where the murder took place, the media reports that Paul Bernardini has just been arrested in Northern Europe…

Are any similarities to existing characters purely coincidental? We know the formula… There are many similarities between this man named Paul Bernardin and Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes, and the points of overlap are intentional!

It’s obviously fiction, but the story is about this very man whose story has caused a lot of ink to be spilled. Killing his family and running away. “It’s a mix between cinematic phantasmagoria and real fact, because obviously, together with my collaborator Amelie Philippe, we studied the whole story a lot over a year or two.” – said screenwriter and director Jean-Christophe Meuris.

A challenge to dare a comedy about a shocking subject

Plastic Guns is a very, very loose adaptation of this case, which is said to “fascinate” the French and is the subject of the worst “fantasies” about what happened to this man who has been missing for years.

Dare to make a comedy on this topic! It’s the challenge of this crazy movie to keep it safe for an informed audience because “A scene of great violence that will offend sensitive audiences“, as we can read in the movie’s “All Audiences Warning” rating.

The film opens with Jonathan Cohen and Fred Tucci around an operating table in the middle of an autopsy, talking as if over beers at a bar. The purpose of the discussion? Netflix’s obsession with movies and series based on current events! The scene sets the tone for this comedy. That you dare to laugh at something that on paper should inspire fear.

“I, like many French people, have a rather painful admiration for the news in general, as stated at the beginning of the film, but Dupont de Ligonnès in particular. explained director Jean-Christophe Merisse at the film’s presentation in Cannes this year, closing the Directors’ Monday. And we have the impression – this is my interpretation – that many French people would like him to succeed. Because they are also projected into it (…) For me, it’s a challenge to the relationship we have with the monster that only talks about intimate monsters..”

This new production from Jean-Christophe Meurice (founder of the band Les Chiens de Navarre) fully embraces the black comedy genre, clearly leaning towards the Coen brothers.

“I delved into the story of Guy João, a poor boy who was arrested in Glasgow and taken to Dupont de Ligonnes – even though he had nothing to do with it. An early retiree from Renault, he was mistaken for France’s most wanted man and arrested, spending twenty-six hours of hell in Scottish jails…we were in Sempe’s painting! I told myself that the real Dupont de Ligonnes had a good laugh! (…) I imagined two web explorers who don’t spend their weekends collecting stamps or embossing, but do research in their spare time.
Spoiler:
During a booze trip, they hunt down a bogus criminal…“, continues the director in the press conference of the film.

The film is a sequence of sketches in which several main characters share a common theme, including the excellent Delphine Baril and Charlotte Laemel, but also numerous guests: Jonathan Cohen, as well as Nora Hamzav, Vincent Dedien and Aymeric Lompre.

Black comedy, in the tradition of the Coen brothers

As in Blood Oranges, Jean-Christophe Meurice’s previous work, the humor is caustic and sometimes disturbing.

The film is certainly less violent than Blood Orange, but it does present some particularly unpleasant scenes that may be uncomfortable with the subject matter and this very real story. Because of its extremely cheeky side and its colorful characters, we can also think of the world of Monty Python.

Plastic Guns hits theaters this Wednesday, June 26, 2024.