A Bout de Truffe (The Truffle Hunter) part 2 of 2

2007 Dances with Films and TCM (London Film Festival) award-winning and BIFA nominated short film written and directed by Tom Tagholm.

Jean Dubois is the latest in a seven generation tradition of truffle hunters and, without a doubt, he is the worst of them. He lives with his pig Carinne with whom he has quite a close relationship. When his landlord serves notice due to an unpaid back rent of 126 months, Jean reaches his lowest point and decides on a fateful course of action. But just when things appear to be at their worst, a discovery changes his life.

As the title would suggest this film is structured in the style of a French new wave art film but yet at the same time is a very unique story with a strange sense of humour. The crux of the tale is that of a love scorned in the shape of Carinne whom Jean neglects once he has discovered his enormous truffle. It is an odd sense of humour and not hilarious so much as it is well observed with nice touches. The script produces some good laughs but mainly it is the way that the film is directed that makes it work best as it effectively captures the air of its target and affectionately uses it for humour. Visually it is spot on and the sparse dialogue works well within the style.

Tagholm's writing and direction is effective, with just the right touch of the absurd to make it work without being too silly or stupid. Corncard's lead performance is suitably restrained and "meaningful", allowing for him to be part of the reference. It isn't a perfect film by any means but in regards an imaginative genre reference joke it works well even if it won't appeal to a mass audience due to its reliance on cinematic references to enjoy it.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Tom Tagholm
• Stephane Cornicard
• David Bertrand
• Michael Dacre
• Mick Barber
• Gregory Lugak
• Julian Caddy
• Barbara Joslyn
• Barbara King
• Fizz Marcus
• loneliness
• loner
• pig
• bestiality
• zoophilia
• dances
• with
• films
• TCM
• London
• festival
• french
• français
• truffle
• cochon
• piglet
• suicide
• feeding
• animal
• farm
• woodland
• nouvelle
• vague