Leos Carax directs the surrealist pop-opera written by The Sparks Brothers. The exaggerated artifice of the modern musical juxtaposed with the explicitly literal cinematography creates a very unsettling effect.  This technique works well to (re)present the meta-themes of the film: artificiality vs authenticity, performativity vs the genuine… and what we lose through the gaps between. At its heart, it is the story of the tragic relationship between a comedian and an opera singer (and their otherworldly puppet daughter).