Willem Dafoe has found his next film project, and he’s waging war over soufflés and modern architecture. In The Souffleur, a dark comedy from Argentinian filmmaker Gastón Solnicki, Dafoe plays the longtime maître d’ of Vienna’s InterContinental Hotel who spirals into chaos when he learns that his beloved establishment is being sold to an Argentine developer.
The buyer’s plan is to tear it down and rebuild. Dafoe’s character responds the only way a hotelier on the verge of a breakdown might: by slipping into paranoia, watching his world literally fall apart… soufflés and all.
The synopsis teases a poetic unraveling: “Spiraling into absurd paranoia, his profound unraveling begins to manifest in his surroundings — the hotel pipes become blocked, the clocks go haywire and his trademark soufflés refuse to rise.”
Dafoe isn’t alone in this surrealist descent. He’s joined by Solnicki himself, newcomer Lilly Senn, Stephanie Argerich, and Claus Philipp. The film was shot entirely at the InterContinental in Vienna.
Producer Austin Kennedy said in a statement: “The Souffleur is an inventive and entertaining film featuring a lively cast of characters led by Willem Dafoe, who plays the souffleur himself.
“The story blends humor with timely themes of social and class structure, change and modernity, resulting in a wholly original work that is both charming and delightfully comedic. This marks Solnicki’s most ambitious film to date, a richly layered work that pushes his storytelling into bold new territory.”
Solnicki told Variety, the the concept for the fil all started with a culinary misfire in Buenos Aires. “The idea for the film stemmed from a ‘curious, failed experience’ at a restaurant, when a soufflé was ‘forced on me in a very sad fashion.’”
As someone who trained in what he describes as “a very military French tradition,” Solnicki said the soufflé metaphor became irresistible. “It’s not something that you just follow a recipe, and it happens,” he explained. “It’s really an act of love and an act of faith.”
The film borrows from Luis Buñuel’s absurdist playbook, using humor and surrealism to explore ideas of collapse, both structural and psychological. “A building that is about to be [demolished] and a dessert that is no longer [able to rise],” as Solnicki puts it.
When talking about working with Dafoe, he said: “Willem and I dragged each other to the mud. We thrived after a fertile wrestle — our worlds complemented each other in unexpected and exciting ways. Together we crafted a film that feels both personal and profoundly alive.”
The Souffleur is currently in post-production and set to be shopped at the Cannes Film Market by Magnify.
