What if we ate our neighbor? Mostly vegans who, after all, are herbivores? Barbaque, appetizing comedy in which Fabrice Eboué is directed opposite Marina Foïs, evokes this question with fierce humor and an original way of considering the tastes of others.
Thus, a couple of butchers in debt up to their necks realize how much profit they can derive from the body of an accidentally killed vegan activist. From there to transforming into killers in order to meet the demand of a clientele fond of human flesh, there is only one step… that this duo crosses with a lot of chopper and other sharp weapons. To say that Fabrice Eboué is an enemy of political correctness is an understatement. He even offered himself Christophe Hondelatte for a hilarious parody of Let the accused enter ! For 20 minutes, Fabrice Eboué returned to his conception of laughter.
How did you create your character as a cannibal butcher?
He is an ordinary man mistreated by his wife who despises him. He’s one of those artisan butchers who’ve never killed an animal in their life and doesn’t understand why vegans call them assassins. He loves his job. His only wish is to satisfy his customers with what he called “Iranian pork”, because pork is a rare meat in this country.
The role of the wife, you wrote it on purpose for Marina Foïs?
Let’s say I thought about her strongly. Marina Foïs is a Rolls. We became all the more quickly accomplices as we are both fans of news shows. She immediately understood the spirit of the film. The idea that her character would find her husband attractive again when he became a predator amused both of us. It is a way of playing with the masculine codes that we are attacked from childhood. We also loved that this frustrated woman was addicted to human flesh, that she looked at people with gusto.
Why did you make the meat so appetizing?
Customers are unaware that this butcher serves human flesh and not pig, so they feast without a second thought. I wanted viewers to understand how exceptional this meat is. So I took care of the moment when I make myself a steak. We baked it in butter and filmed it with tantalizing lighting. The public had to be mouth watering, to want to eat it too. I have also read in old books that human flesh has the consistency of pork and a taste that is similar to it.
You are not going dead hand, you are not afraid of controversy?
I have never been afraid and I must admit that I have never suffered too much from reactions to my humor. The vegans who saw my film, for the most part, understood that I had no malice towards them. Some worked on the film and only complained that they had to shoot in a butcher’s shop. I let go of black humor but I’m not mean. I make fun of everyone the same way. Barbaque target extremists, not people with convictions. They are the ones I target in all areas and not just veganism.
You do not forbid yourself anything?
I refuse to censor myself. I only cut what doesn’t seem funny to me, or what slows down the action. These are my only limits. As Barbaque is both a love story with a slightly different romanticism and a genre film, I had to be rigorous. I wanted to keep the balance between the two but I never censored myself and no one ever asked me to.
So you do not agree with the comedians who claim that we can no longer laugh at anything?
This type of statement is often a way of covering up one’s own laziness or finding an excuse not to take any more risks. However, it is high time to shake things up. Spectators, especially young people, have become accustomed to looking at the platforms. We must react if we do not want them to eat the movies. You have to offer different content to attract them to theaters. To make people come back to the movies, you have to surprise or shock them.
Is that why “Tout Simply Noir”, a film in which you participated, hit the box office?
Absoutely. This original reflection offered something new since each of us played with our image by addressing the subject of racism. The public had no equivalent on the platforms and therefore wanted to come back to the theater to laugh together. I hope it will be the same for Barbaque.