Quentin Dupieux twists superhero genre with signature absurdist humor in 'Smoking Causes Coughing'

On March 22, The Panther sat down with director Quentin Dupieux to discuss the production, influences and real-world connections behind his new film “Smoking Causes Coughing.” Photos courtesy of Magnet Releasing

Any film branded with the name Quentin Dupieux holds unmistakable and unreplicable quality. Having developed a repertoire for deadpan and offbeat absurdism, the French auteur has spent the last 20 years constructing a filmography consisting of zany plots ranging from a homicidal car tire (“Rubber”) to a motorcycle jacket with mystical powers (“Deerskin”) to two friends who train a giant fly for money (“Mandibles”). 

There could be a million answers as to what each outlandish concept means, but one thing is for sure… you won’t get an answer from Dupieux. 

“Smoking Causes Coughing” — directed by Quentin Dupieux — is available for purchase on Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube and several other platforms beginning March 31. The film will be released in several theaters across Los Angeles and play at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana on March 31, April 1 and 2.

“My movies are not locked in terms of interpretations,” Dupieux told The Panther. “If you ask 10 people to describe a movie, it will be different for each person. Even if everybody is watching the same thing, everybody has their own perception of things. It's always different and I love to leave some room for people to connect themselves to the movie.”

Dupieux’s latest film “Smoking Causes Coughing” is no exception to his calling card style. On March 22, The Panther sat down with Dupieux to discuss the new film, which revolves around a superhero team called the Tobacco Force — comprised of members Benzene, Menthol, Nicotine, Mercury and Ammonia. 

After narrowly defeating an evil, giant turtle, the group embarks on a week-long retreat in order to strengthen their decaying group cohesion. 

Sprinkled between fantastical campfire stories, the group maintains communication with their leader, Chief Didier, a promiscuous acid-drooling rat who informs them that Lézardin, Emperor of Evil, will annihilate the planet. With an abundance of great actors in France, Dupieux said it was a pleasure to build this new group and create the nostalgic look of the team. 

“The challenge (in putting together the Tobacco Force) was to create a team we've never seen before,” Dupieux said. “All these actors had never (worked) together before so that's how I created the tension between them… You can't see it when you watch the movie, but making the costumes was a piece of work because we didn't want these costumes to look like a joke. So we were working hard to make amazing costumes.”

Dupieux calls “Smoking Causes Coughing” an “unabashed source of inconsequential entertainment” in that it never tries to project big speeches or morals. Although Dupieux created an entire fictional world that his characters inhabit, he notes that this film is the most closely connected to the real world, drawing from global division and the general hardships of our current world and events.

“Even if I was trying to make a piece of entertainment, let's say a stupid comedy movie, the divide of the world right now and what we are going through and the crises we are facing was stronger than me” Dupieux said. “Even if I didn't want to talk about these heavy subjects, they were here. It's hard to pretend that nothing is happening, so even if the goal was to make a comedy, these heavy subjects were here.”

“Smoking Causes Coughing” was filmed in the Provence region of France and took seven weeks to shoot. Dupieux began writing with references in mind such as “Power Rangers,” “Creepshow,” “San Ku Kaï” and “Halloween." He told The Panther that his ideas come from the subconscious and can strike anytime, whether he’s walking his dog or having dinner with friends, with his writing process varying each time.  

“Sometimes I have a full story in mind, and I just write it," Dupieux said. "Sometimes I don't know where I'm going. This time, I had the concept in mind. I knew it was a movie about storytelling, and I knew I wanted many stories in the script. I knew it was going to be a campfire movie — that was the center actually. I started by writing the scene of (the Tobacco Force) being around the campfire.”

Dupieux is also an electronic musician and goes by the moniker Mr. Oizo. He got ahold of his first synthesizer when he was 19 and began to make music that illustrated his photographs. Dupieux has released seven studio albums and has earned nominations at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Billboard Music Video Awards and UK Music Video Awards. He even scored five of his film projects but made the decision to stop in 2014. 

“My music is too simple. I need emotions and different vibes in my movies and my music is only one type of music,” Dupieux said. “Also because I'm writing, directing, shooting and editing myself, I need to invite some other people in my world. On this one, I needed something peaceful. I found this music, which is actually called Plantasia. It's an old recording which was made for plants, like an ecological piece of music made for vegetables.”

Although Dupieux has different approaches to filming commercials, music videos and feature films, one element that has remained the same is Dupieux’s love for puppets. Dupieux introduced the puppet character Flat Eric (built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop) in a series of Levi’s Jeans commercials in 1999 and was later featured in the music video for Dupieux’s song “Flat Beat,” which has garnered over 52 million views. 

Dupieux said his love for puppets is a connection to his childhood. He expresses this love in “Smoking Causes Coughing,” through Chief Didier, the acid-drooling rat puppet that leads the Tobacco Force, voiced by Alain Chabat.

“I used to love puppet shows,” Dupieux said. “It's just something I love and I love the way you have to frame them — these gloved puppets — with someone operating under the table. It's just something I love to capture.”

“Smoking Causes Coughing” premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival during the Midnight section. This slot was added in the early 2010s with the intent of giving attendees a break from “high art” films and introducing genre films or films with challenging content. Following the screening, the film was acquired by Magnolia Pictures who released Dupieux’s previous films “Mandibles” and “Rubber.”

“It was nuts because Cannes is not about these types of movies,” Dupieux said. “Cannes is more centered on real subject movies and this type of crazy, goofy cinema is not really represented in Cannes usually. It was exciting for this to have such an amazing slot. And then the response was amazing. People were having so much fun watching this. In the end, it was an amazing experience.”

Dupieux also released “Incredible but True” in 2022 and recently finished editing his 12th feature film “Daaaaaali!” about a French journalist who meets the surrealist painter Salvador Dali. He hopes to present the film at Cannes Film Festival later this year. 

“Smoking Causes Coughing” will be made available for purchase on Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, YouTube and several other platforms on March 31. The film will be released in several theaters across Los Angeles and play at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana on Mrch 31, April 1 and 2.