Daaaaaalí!

Daaaaaalí! is a 2023 French comedy film written and directed by Quentin Dupieux.^[4] It has been described as a "real fake biopic" about the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí.^[5]

Daaaaaalí!
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Quentin Dupieux
Written by	Quentin Dupieux
Produced by	Thomas Verhaeghe Mathieu Verhaeghe
Starring	Anaïs Demoustier Gilles Lellouche Édouard Baer Jonathan Cohen Pio Marmaï Didier Flamand Romain Duris Agnès Hurstel
Cinematography	Quentin Dupieux^[1]
Edited by	Quentin Dupieux^[1]
Music by	Thomas Bangalter^[1]
Production companies	Atelier de Production France 3 Cinéma
Distributed by	Diaphana Distribution
Release dates	7 September 2023 (2023-09-07) (Venice) 7 February 2024 (2024-02-07) (France)
Running time	79 minutes^[1]
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	€6.7 million^[2]
Box office	$3.7 million^[3]

The film premiered out of competition at the 80th Venice International Film Festival,^[6] and was theatrically released on 7 February 2024.

Plot

A French journalist meets with Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí on multiple occasions for an unproductive documentary project.^[4]

Cast

• Anaïs Demoustier as a journalist^[7]
• Gilles Lellouche as Salvador Dalí^[7]
• Édouard Baer as Salvador Dalí^[7]
• Jonathan Cohen as Salvador Dalí^[7]
• Pio Marmaï as Salvador Dalí^[7]
• Didier Flamand as Salvador Dalí^[7]
• Romain Duris as an editor^[7]
• Agnès Hurstel

Production

The film was produced by Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe through Atelier de Production, in co-production with France 3 Cinéma.^[4]

On 8 November 2022, Dupieux announced on his Instagram account that principal photography for the film had commenced. The post also revealed a cast including Anaïs Demoustier, Édouard Baer, Gilles Lellouche, Pio Marmaï, Jonathan Cohen, Hakim Jemili, Agnès Hurstel, Jérôme Niel, Marc Fraize and Didier Flamand.^[2] Alain Chabat and Pierre Niney were planned as cast members but were ultimately unavailable.^[8] Dalí will be portrayed by multiple actors throughout the film.^[9] Shooting took place in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud, the south of France, and finally in Spain, where a house on the Costa Brava was staged for the film to evoke Dalí's house in Portlligat. In the Spanish desert, Dupieux also filmed tableaux vivants inspired by two paintings by Dalí: Necrophilic Fountain Flowing from a Grand Piano (1932) and The Average Fine and Invisible Harp (1932).^[8][10] After six weeks, filming officially wrapped on 23 December 2022.^[4]

Release

Daaaaaalí! was selected to be screened out of competition at the 80th Venice International Film Festival,^[11] where it had its world premiere on 7 September 2023.^[1] International sales are handled by Kinology.^[4] The film was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on 1 November 2023, but was postponed by Diaphana Distribution to 7 February 2024.^[12][13]

Soundtrack

Daaaaaalí!
Soundtrack album by Thomas Bangalter
Released	9 February 2024
Genre	Acoustic, instrumental
Length	10:24
Label	Ed Banger Records
Producer	Florian Lagatta

In August 2023, it was confirmed that Thomas Bangalter, formerly of Daft Punk, had composed the score for the film.^[14] Bangalter, a friend of Dupieux's, previously made a cameo in Dupieux's 2014 film Reality, a film starring Bangalter's wife Élodie Bouchez.^[15] Bangalter and Dupieux wanted the score to be its own "character" in the movie. Bangalter exclusively used an ancient zither as the instrument for the score.^[16]

In January 2024, Ed Banger Records announced the release of a limited 10" vinyl EP containing Bangalter's brief original score for the film and a poster for the film. The soundtrack is set to release on 9 February 2024.^[17][18] It was released to streaming platforms on 7 February.^[19]

All music is composed by and performed by Thomas Bangalter

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Daaaaaalí !"	4:01
2.	"Âge Réel"	6:23
Total length:		10:24

Reception

Critical response

Daaaaaalí received an average rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars on the French website AlloCiné, based on 37 reviews.^[20] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.^[21]

References

1. "Daaaaaalí!". La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
2. Bardinet, Elodie (8 November 2022). "Quentin Dupieux démarre le tournage de son 12e film, Daaaaaalí !". Première (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
3. "Daaaaaali! (2023)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
4. Lemercier, Fabien (26 December 2022). "The final clapperboard slams on Quentin Dupieux's Daaaaaalí !". Cineuropa. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
5. Carpentier, Laurent (5 August 2023). "Quentin Dupieux, réalisateur de Yannick : "Devenir professionnel, c'est ma hantise"". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
6. "Out of Competition". La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
7. Bleasdale, John (7 September 2023). "Daaaaaalí!: it's as if Luis Buñuel directed a script by Monty Python". Sight and Sound. BFI. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
8. Bindé, Joséphine (15 March 2023). "Un biopic fou de Dalí avec (entre autres) Gilles Lellouche et Jonathan Cohen bientôt en salles". Beaux Arts Magazine (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
9. Wiseman, Andreas; Goodfellow, Melanie (8 November 2022). "'Daaaaaalí!': Pierre Niney, Anaïs Demoustier, Gilles Lellouche & Alain Chabat Among All-Star French Cast For Quentin Dupieux Pic, Filming Underway". Deadline. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
10. Morice, Jacques (26 January 2023). "L'envers des décors de "Daaaaaalí !", le futur biopic forcément surréaliste de Quentin Dupieux". Télérama (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2023.
11. Tartaglione, Nancy (25 July 2023). "Venice Film Festival Lineup: Mann, Lanthimos, Fincher, DuVernay, Cooper, Besson, Coppola, Hamaguchi In Competition; Polanski, Allen, Anderson, Linklater Out Of Competition – Full List". Deadline. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
12. Loridan, Carla (26 October 2023). ""Daaaaaalí!" : Première bande-annonce loufoque pour le nouveau film de Quentin Dupieux". bfmtv.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
13. "Les line-ups s'ajustent chez les distributeurs". Boxoffice Pro (in French). 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
14. "Thomas Bangalter, ex-Daft Punk, a composé la musique du prochain film de Quentin Dupieux". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 6 September 2023.
15. Strauss, Matthew (18 June 2015). "Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter Appears Unmasked in Film Clip With Jon Heder". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
16. "Listen to a playlist of Thomas Bangalter's favourite film scores". Mixmag. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
17. Strauss, Matthew (10 January 2024). "Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter Releasing New Daaaaaalí! Soundtrack". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
18. "Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter to soundtrack new film 'Daaaaaalí!'". Mixmag. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
19. "Thomas Bangalter Shares "Daaaaaalí!" From Score For French Film: Listen". Stereogum. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
20. "Critiques Presse pour le film Daaaaaali !" (in French). AlloCiné. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
21. "Daaaaaalí!". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 22 March 2024.

External links

• Daaaaaalí! at IMDb