Li'l Quinquin (2014)

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French director Bruno Dumont (Camille Claudel 1915), best known for uncompromising and austere dramas, proves with the comedic Li'l Quinquin that he is capable of shifting gears without conceding his signature style. This ab- surdist, metaphysical murder mystery opens with the discovery of human body parts stuffed inside a cow - a literal bete humaine - on the outskirts of the English Channel in northern France. The bumbling and mumbling Captain Van der Weyden (Bernard pruvost) is assigned to investigate the crime, but he has to contend with a young prankster, the mischievous Quinquin (Alane Delhaye), as he proceeds to investigate the case. Li'l Quinquin has been compared to Twin Peaks and True Detective, but it stands alone as a masterwork from one of the most important contemporary French directors.