#POLISH PREMIERE | WTF | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | Avengers | Quentin Dupieux | comedy | anthology | murderous tortoise | smoking | burnout | workaholism | nicotine powers | superheroes day off | campfire stories | smooth-talking rat | drooling | mutant tortoise | annihilation of mankind | gruesome | dark humor | absurd university | limitless imagination | gruesome | a bucket of blood on your head
SMOKING CAUSES COUGHING
horror, comedy, SF | France, Monako | 2022
World premiere: Cannes Film Festival 2022
Polish premiere: Splat!FilmFest
NEXT LEVEL OF ABSURDITY IN A SHOWCASE OF QUENTIN DUPIEUX’S UNBRIDLED IMAGINATION
Audience favorite and the master of the absurd, Quentin Dupieux, traditionally returns to Splat!FilmFest with yet another film. “Smoking Causes Coughing” is the latest offering from the Frenchman, and we are proud to screen it during our festival.
This time, Dupieux is playing around with superhero genre tropes. The story revolves around a group of spandex-clad heroes, avengers known as the “Nicotine Force”, who once again have to prevent the annihilation of mankind. However, a grueling showdown with a mutant turtle leaves them in need of a breather. In comes their peculiar boss, a smooth-talking rat voiced by French star Alain Chabat, who insists they take some time off. The heroes retreat to the woods, where they swap increasingly bizarre and twisted tales to spend the time together.
Dupieux lets his imagination run wild in this daring comedy as he draws inspiration from the likes of “Tales from the Crypt,” “Power Rangers,” and the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” universe. His superheroes suffer from burnout; their rat boss (a delightfully disgusting drooling puppet) is a workaholic, who remains glued to his keyboard even in bed with his lovely girlfriend; and the villain, who threatens humanity, is a regular family man.
Moreover, the short narratives interwoven throughout this showcase of creativity take absurdity to a whole new level. In one of them, a frustrated wife goes on a killing rampage; in another, a man gets sucked into a machine, and yet he claims to be safe and sound. The movie is deliberately coarse and shot in warm colors that give “Smoking Causes Coughing” an almost dreamlike quality. Fans of gore will also be pleased, as Dupieux generously splashes his characters with buckets of blood and, as always, challenges the viewers to go beyond their comfort zones. From the mind behind “Unbelievable But True,” “Mandibles,”, “Deerskin,” and “Rubber,” we expect nothing less.
director: Quentin Dupieux
screenwriter: Quentin Dupieux
photography: Quentin Dupieux
editor: Quentin Dupieux
duration: 1h 17min
language: French
subtitles: Polish, English
recommended age: 16+
