Smoking Causes Coughing

 

New Quentin Dupieux film out 7th July from Picturehouse Entertainment

Any film from Dupieux is an event, not one of those Indiana Jones/Mission:Impossible type events, but a reminder that the French film-maker and all around visual medium specialist is back with another great yarn to share with the world.

In this instance, he has offered us Smoking Causes Coughing where he takes a five person superhero troupe who are governed by their puppet leader to combat the world challenging events.

The film begins with a family having to make a rest stop for their child to go to the toilet, during that stop the child sees Tobacco Force (Benzene, Methanol, Nicotine, Mercure and Ammoniaque) fighting a giant turtle whom they destroy with their combined tobacco powers to make him explode.

From the get go you notice this battle is not like anything we see nowadays in superhero films with mass CGI and expert choreography, instead we are treated to an affection tribute to the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers with ill-fitting costumes, over the top costumes and lots of fake blood.

Dupieux has a knack of making loopy and eccentric narratives, which is indicative of his own feverish personality, his attention span flies from one thing to another. Following their triumph, the Force report back to their boss - Chief Didier - a puppet rat who is the head of Tobacco Force and is highly desirable to any woman who encounters him.

Didier sends the team off to a retreat so they can reconvene and rebuild their teamwork which has been lacking on recent assignments, upon this retreat the world learns of a new threat to the world by evil Lezardin who threatens to destroy the Earth. Can Tobacco Force co-exist or will the world be snuffed out?

On their retreat, the team take to telling ghost stories of lore which means we break from the camp and see these stories told from a woman who cannot take off a helmet which shuts out the world to a nephew visiting his aunt at a farm with tragic results. 

The point of these narrative shifts or breakaways is a chance for the viewer to re-focus themselves away from the hectic chaotic world we find ourselves in at the moment - the moments of levity throughout from the supermarket fridge to the macabre moments of body horror are genuinely funny and welcome upon first watch.

Dupieux fortuitously has a game cast amongst his five leads who all play it straight and themselves show enough of the kinship as a group while maintaining individuality from missing their children while saving the world to seeking romance.

A funny yet fleeting film of 80 minutes and a love letter to those crazy Saturday morning superhero shows that stay with you, much like this film does.

Smoking Causes Coughing is out from 7th July via Picturehouse Entertainment