2023-05-15 17:34:22
At least on paper, in its 76th edition the Cannes Festival will offer more or less the same as every year: on the one hand, a competition for the Palme d’Or monopolized by essential names of current cinema in which, yes, more directors are missing and the type of old glories abound that at this point they have lost a good part of their ability to surprise -Ken Loach, Nanni Moretti, Hirokazu Koreeda, Aki Kaurismaki-; on the other, exaggerated amounts of glamor spread on the red carpet thanks to the visit of stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, Harrison Ford y Natalie Portman; in between, certain doses of controversy, on this occasion provided by the presence of Johnny Depp in the cast of ‘Jeanne Du Barry’, the French film in charge of inaugurating the exhibition.
What changes, of course, are the films, and the 10 that we list below are some of those that promise to give more to talk about in the contest over the next few days.
1.KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, de Martin Scorsese
It is, without a doubt, one of the most anticipated films of the year, and the first that Martin Scorsese presents at Cannes no less than since he won the Best Director award 38 years ago thanks to ‘Jo, what a night!’ (1985). Very ambitious adaptation of the non-fiction book that the journalist David Grann published in 2017, ‘The murderers of the moon. Oil, money, homicide and the creation of the FBI’, is the closest thing to a ‘western’ that the American director has ever directed, and focuses on the systemic murders of Osage Indians that took place in the state of Oklahoma in the years 20. Its cast is one of those that take away the hiccups. It includes, among other stars, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro and recent Oscar winner Brendan Fraser.
2. A STRANGE WAY OF LIFE, by Pedro Almodóvar
Starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, this short film is the second film that Pedro Almodóvar shoots in English -the first, ‘The Human Voice’ (2021), also adopted the short format-, and has been defined by the Manchego as his ” response to ‘Brokeback Mountain'”; It is worth remembering that, in his day, Almodóvar was about to direct that film before the work finally went to Ang Lee. The costume design is the work of Saint Laurent, and Anthony Vaccarello -creative director of the mythical French firm- appears in the film’s credits as associate producer.
3.INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF FATE, by James Mangold
It may be the only one not directed by Steven Spielberg -the James Mangold firm, responsible for the most twilight of all superhero movies, ‘Logan’ (2017)- but, even so, everything points to the fifth and final installment of The adventures of the most famous archaeologist ever invented will be an uninhibited exercise in nostalgia. Apparently, his storyline includes raids in the 60s, the space race led by the Russians and the Americans, the Nazi scientists used by both sides to win it and a succession of action scenes in which Harrison Ford jumps out of planes. , ride horses in the subway and take part in tuktuk chases.
4.LA CHIMERA, de Alice Rohrwacher
After dazzling with the feature films ‘Corpo celeste’ (2011), ‘El país de las maravillas’ (2014) and ‘Lazzaro feliz’ (2018), being nominated for an Oscar thanks to the short film ‘Le pupille’ (2022), now Rohrwacher presents film in Cannes for the fourth time; few women bear such a mark. It is a drama set in the 80s and around the clandestine world of grave robbers, and starring an archaeologist who finds himself trapped in it. “It talks about our relationship with the past and with the dead”, said the director. “The film was written at a time of death, when death became an integral part of our lives and it became necessary to do it.” In other words, ‘La chimera’ is the product of the pandemic.
5.THE ZONE OF INTEREST, de Jonathan Glazer
The director of ‘Under the Skin’ (2013), a cult work starring Scarlett Johansson in the skin of an alien, is now premiering his first feature film in 10 years. Based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same name, watch the Auschwitz commandant and his wife try to establish a dream life for his family in the garden next to the infamous concentration camp. Glazer has stated that the film has a very different tone from other Holocaust fiction such as ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993) and ‘Son of Saul’ (2015) and that it uses the past to talk about the present. “The rise of National Socialism in Germany was like a fever that seized the people. We can see something similar happening again.”
6.ASTEROID CITY, de Wes Anderson
Shot in Chinchón (Madrid), it takes place at an astronomy convention that is interrupted by what appears to be an alien invasion and, judging by its trailer, it is ‘Andersonian’ enough to load all those who love to the Texan director for continuing to expand his inimitable -although often imitated- universe as well as those who criticize him for repeating himself to self-parody levels. Like all of his cinema, it will feature a succession of symmetrically perfect images, extraordinary attention to detail, and an absurdly star-studded cast. It is made up of Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Liv Schreiber, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie and Steve Carell. The only thing missing is Bill Murray, a permanent member of the director’s ‘troupe’, who was forced to miss filming due to the covid.
7.MAY DECEMBER, de Todd Haynes
Haynes is behind a handful of extraordinary works starring female characters such as ‘Safe’ (1995), ‘Far From Heaven’ (2002) and ‘Carol’ (2015), for which the presence of Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman as heads poster of his new work is in itself promising. Its protagonist is a woman whose romance with a young man she is more than 20 years older causes a great tabloid scandal; Many years later, the couple is preparing to send their children to college when a successful actress enters their lives, preparing to make a movie about them. The arrival revives ghosts of the past and makes emotions get out of control.
8.THE BOOK OF ILLUSIONS, by Michel Gondry
The return of the iconoclastic French director to the big screen after eight years of absence -his last feature film released to date is the ‘road trip’ ‘The Crazy Story of Microbe and Gasoline’ (2015)- has been described as an intimate comedy about the creative process. It chronicles the outlandish misadventures of a manic-depressive filmmaker who turns his aunt’s country house into a movie studio. If its synopsis does not deceive, then, it will combine elements of the filmmaker’s most celebrated films, ‘Forget Me’ (2004), ‘The Science of Sleep’ (2006) and ‘Rewind, Please’ (2008).
9.CLOSE YOUR EYES, by Víctor Erice
Erice only needed two films, ‘El espíritu de la colmena’ (1973) and ‘El sur’ (1983), to establish himself as one of the great filmmakers in the history of Spanish cinema. The one he is now presenting in Cannes is only the fourth feature film in his career, and it comes more than three decades after the third, ‘El sol del quince’ (1992), won the Jury Prize at this same festival. Based on a script half-written by the filmmaker and Michel Gaztambide -winner of a Goya for ‘There will be no peace for the wicked’ (2011), it uses the story of the disappearance of a famous actor to carry out a reflection on identity and memory.
10.CLUB ZERO, de Jessica Hausner
The Austrian director’s second film shot in English touches on a subject closely connected to the ‘zeitgeist’. Starring Mia Wasikowska, it tells the story of a young teacher recently incorporated into a school who establishes a close and very dangerous bond with five of her students, whom she convinces that “eating less is healthy.” Hausner’s feature film immediately before this, ‘Little Joe’ (2019), competed at the festival four years ago and brought her lead, Emily Beecham, the Best Actress award.
#Indiana #Jones #latest #Scorsese #anticipated #films #Cannes #Film #Festival