Scorsese’s master lesson in Cannes with “Killers of the flower moon”

2023-05-21 21:02:03

It was the most anticipated film of the festival and it has not disappointed at all. “Killers of the flower moon” is the return of veteran Martin Scorsese to Cannes after many years of absence. Winner of the Palme d’Or in 1976 for “Taxi Driver”, aware of his classic label in life and that he no longer has to prove anything at his age, Scorsese has brought his latest film to the Croisette out of competition . The screening of the film has generated great anticipation because only a limited press pass has been made. Accompanied by two of his fetish actors, Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio, Scorsese has made one of his most ambitious and perfect works, a truly monumental fresco on the construction of the backbones of the “official” history of the contemporary United States . The film tells the little-known case of the Osages, an Indian tribe secluded in a reservation who suddenly became rich when they discovered oil on their land. Set in the decade of the 20s, “Killers of the flower moon” explains the relentless process of the white majority to eliminate these privileges and to trivialize everything that deviates from a purist vision of the history of the United States. It is a film that seems almost a miracle in the context of today’s Hollywood, focused only on sagas and films with immediate commercial performance. In fact, without the production of the tech giant Apple, which financed it, Scorsese might not have been able to shoot it. Finally, it will be Paramount who will be in charge of the worldwide distribution of a work that will be released in mid-October

When we reached the equator of the festival, the high level of the competition was confirmed, in a great edition, both for the average quality of the films and for the presence of some extraordinary titles. This Sunday’s day was no exception. In “Firebrand”, the historical drama directed by the Brazilian Karim Aïnouz, it was possible to see a magnificent interpretative duel between Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. Set in the middle of the 16th century, in the last years of the reign of Henry VIII, it explains the conspiracies and power struggles in the English court between reformists and fundamentalists. “Firebrand” follows the model of classics such as “Becket”, by Peter Glenville, in the confrontation between political power and religion, between renewal and maintenance of the status quo. It is an exciting film, very dense, which avoids any precious temptation and which places its two protagonists directly as favorites for the acting awards: an unknown Jude Law as the irascible, lunatic and physically devoured Henry VIII shortly before he died , and an Alicia Vikander in full control of her role, that of the writer Catherine Parr, sixth and last wife of the English monarch.

Rumors said that the best French film in this year’s competition could be “Anatomie d’une chute”, by Justine Triet. And this Sunday’s screening has confirmed expectations. Following the model of some of the great classic judicial films – in fact it explicitly takes the name of Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder” – Triet constructs, in collaboration with Arthur Harari, a millimetric script and absorbent The film investigates the death in strange circumstances of the husband of a successful writer – played with his usual precision by the German Sandra Huller – after falling from the third floor of the house where they live near Grenoble. What seemed to be an accident will end in the writer being accused of murder and the film relentlessly reveals for two and a half hours, both the trial and the lives of the characters that allow the viewer to form their own interpretation of the case beyond the final verdict. Sandra Huller, who is also the protagonist of “The zone of interest” by Jonathan Glazer, is another strong candidate for best actress.