2023-05-26 20:00:39
Canes has closed this Friday the competition of the 76th edition of the Festival, one of the most brilliant that can be remembered in recent years. Not only because of the high average quality of the films shown but also because there have been quite a few of those exceptional and memorable films which are always expected from the most important festival in the world. And as it cannot be otherwise, the usual rumors and shenanigans have begun to circulate in relation to the track record which will be known this Saturday. Since the composition of the jury was known, there was a coincidence in describing it as “unpredictable”. So much for the president’s profile, the controversial and volcanic Ruben Östlundas for the rest of the members, of whom it is difficult to guess clear tastes and preferences.
It remains to be seen how the traditional pacts and balances work within the jury, despite Östlund’s statements at the beginning of the festival in which he assured that he was against “consensus” within a list, in the sense of avoiding awarding films polarized within the jury and end up awarding perhaps not the most appreciated, but those that generated the least opposition. The main favorite in all the rankings of the critics of the specialized magazines is “The zone of interest” from the British Jonathan Glazer. Since it was shown in the first week of the festival, it has not lost this privileged position, not only because of its quality, but because everyone sees it as a film that can relate to Östlund’s style and way of understanding cinema . In addition, it is a film about a great subject – the Holocaust and the concentration camps – made from a groundbreaking point of view and form, which is always a requirement of the great festivals.
Next to her, two alternative candidates are profiled:The dead leaves” d’Aki Kaurismaki i “Anatomy of a fall” of Justine Triet. For Kaurismaki it would be the culmination of an exceptional career, but one that has never been awarded the highest award at one of the major European festivals. For Triet, it would be the definitive confirmation of one of the most talented female directors on the European film scene. Further down in the betting, there would be the options of Wim Wenderswho surprised yesterday with the magnificent “Perfect days”, his best fiction in decades, or of “May september”, the psychological study of Todd Haynes, another great director who has never won any major international competition. The interpretation awards raise two clear duels: in the male category, Jude Lawwhich makes Henry VIII in “Firebrand” contra Koji Yakushothe protagonist of the Wenders film, and in the feminine, Sandra Hüllerdouble star in Glazer and Triet’s films, contra Alicia Vikanderwho plays Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII in “Firebrand”.
The final competitive day was marked by the return to Cannes of two veteran former festival winners. Wim WendersPalme d’Or in 1984 for “Paris, Texas”, starred in the big surprise of the official section with “Perfect days”, his best fiction film at least since “The Sky over Berlin” from 1987. Shot in Tokyo, where Wenders had already filmed “Tokyo-Ga” years ago, the German director makes a small minimalist gem, with a wonderful character and extraordinary sensitivity. It is a film about the beauty of small everyday things, full of humanity, very poetic. On the other hand, Ken Loachdouble winner of the Palme d’Or in 2006 and 2016, has presented “The old oak”, which has already announced that it may be his last film. The veteran British filmmaker, 86 years old, places the pub that gives the film its name as the center of the action, and portrays, with his usual combative and vindictive spirit, the racial tensions in a village in Great Britain in 2016 with the arrival of the wave of Syrian refugees fleeing the war. Like Nanni Moretti a couple of days ago, Loach vindicates the spirit of “community” and human solidarity and cooperation as an antidote to fight against inequalities and extremism.
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