The Cannes Film Festival rarely passes without cacophony but this year鈥檚 edition may be more raucous and uneasy than any edition in recent memory.
When the red carpet is rolled out from the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday, the 77th Cannes will unfurl against a backdrop of war, protest, potential strikes and quickening #MeToo upheaval in France, which for years largely resisted the movement.
Festival workers are threatening to strike. The Israel-Hamas war, acutely felt in France, home to Europe鈥檚 largest Jewish and Arab communities, is sure to spark protests. Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine remains on the minds of many. Add in the kinds of anxieties that can be expected to percolate at Cannes 鈥 the ever-uncertain future of cinema, the rise of artificial intelligence 鈥 and this year鈥檚 festival shouldn鈥檛 lack for drama.
Being prepared for anything has long been a useful attitude in Cannes. Befitting such tumultuous times, the film lineup is full of intrigue, curiosity and question marks.
The Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, just days before his latest film, 鈥淭he Seed of the Sacred Fig,鈥 is to debut in competition in Cannes, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The film remains on Cannes鈥 schedule.
Arguably the most feverishly awaited entry is Francis Ford Coppola鈥檚 self-financed opus 鈥淢egalopolis.鈥 Coppola, is himself no stranger to high-drama at Cannes. An unfinished cut of 鈥淎pocalypse Now鈥 won him (in a tie) his second Palme d鈥橭r more than four decades ago.
Even the upcoming U.S. presidential election won鈥檛 be far off. Premiering in competition is Ali Abbasi鈥檚 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 starring Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump. There will also be new films from Kevin Costner, Paolo Sorrentino, Sean Baker, Yorgos Lanthimos and Andrea Arnold. And for a potentially powder keg Cannes there鈥檚 also the firebomb of 鈥淔uriosa: A Mad Max Saga.鈥 The film, a rolling apocalyptic dystopia, returns director George Miller to the festival he first became hooked on as a juror.
鈥淚 got addicted it to simply because it鈥檚 like film camp,鈥 says Miller, who became enraptured to the global gathering of cinema at Cannes and the pristine film presentations. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of optimal cinema, really. The moment that they said, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e happy to show this film here,鈥 I jumped at it.鈥
Cannes鈥 official opener on Tuesday is 鈥淭he Second Act,鈥 a French comedy by Quentin Dupieux, starring L茅a Seydoux, Louis Garrel and Vincent Lindon. During the opening ceremony, Meryl Streep will be awarded an honorary Palme d鈥橭r. At the closing ceremony, George Lucas will get one, too.
But the spotlight at the start may fall on Judith Godr猫che. The French director and actor earlier this year said the filmmakers Beno卯t Jacquot and Jacques Doillon sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager, allegations that rocked French cinema. Jacquot and Doillon have denied the allegations.
Though much of the French film industry has previously been reluctant to embrace the #MeToo movement, Godr猫che has stoked a wider response. She鈥檚 spoken passionately about the need for changes at the Cesars, France鈥檚 equivalent of the Oscars, and before a French Senate commission.
In that same period, Godr猫che also made the short film 鈥淢oi Aussi鈥 during a Paris gathering of hundreds who wrote her with their own stories of sexual abuse. On Wednesday, it opens Cannes鈥 Un Certain Regard section.
鈥淚 hope that I鈥檓 heard in the sense that I鈥檓 not interested in being some sort of representation of someone who just wants to go after everyone in this industry,鈥 Godr猫che said ahead of the festival. 鈥淚鈥檓 just fighting for some sort of change. It is called a revolution.鈥
It鈥檚 the latest chapter in how #MeToo has reverberated at the world鈥檚 largest film gathering, following an 82-woman protest on the steps of the Palais in 2018 and a gender parity pledge in 2019. Cannes has often come under criticism for not inviting more female filmmakers into competition, but the festival is putting its full support behind Godr猫che while girding for the possibility of more #MeToo revelations during the festival.
鈥淔or me, having these faces, these people 鈥 everyone in this movie 鈥 gives them this place to be celebrated,鈥 said Godr猫che. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this thing about this place that has so much history. In a way, it mystifies movies forever. Once your film was in Cannes, it was in Cannes.鈥
Some of the filmmakers coming to the festival this year are already firmly lodged in Cannes lore. Paul Schrader was at the festival almost 50 years ago for Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淭axi Driver,鈥 which he wrote. After a famously divisive response, it won the Palme in 1976.
鈥淚t was a different place. It was much more collegial and lower key,鈥 said Schrader during a break from packing his bags. 鈥淚 remember quite well sitting on the terrasse at the Carlton with Marty and Sergio Leone and (Rainer Werner) Fassbender came by with his boyfriend and joined us. We were all talking and the sun was going down. I was thinking, 鈥楾his is the greatest thing in the world.鈥欌
For the first time since his 1988 drama 鈥淧atty Hearst,鈥 Schrader is back in what he calls 鈥渢he main show鈥 鈥 in competition for the Palme d鈥橭r 鈥 with 鈥淥h, Canada.鈥 The film, adapted from a Russell Banks novel, stars Richard Gere (reteaming with Schrader decades after 鈥淎merican Gigolo鈥) as a dying filmmaker who recounts his life story for a documentary. Jacob Elordi plays him in 鈥70s flashbacks.
After the Cannes lineup was announced, Schrader shared on Facebook an old photo of himself, Coppola and Lucas 鈥 all primary figures to what was then called New Hollywood 鈥 and the caption 鈥淭ogether again.鈥
鈥淚鈥檒l be there the same time as Francis. There鈥檚 a question of whether either of us get invited back for closing,鈥 Schrader says, referring to when award-winners are asked to stay for the closing ceremony. 鈥淚 would hope that either Francis or I could come back closing night for George鈥檚 thing.鈥
Who ultimately goes home with the Palme 鈥 the handicapping has already begun 鈥 will be decided by a jury led by Greta Gerwig, fresh off the mammoth success of 鈥淏arbie.鈥 But this year鈥檚 slate will have a lot to live up to. Last year, three eventual best picture nominees premiered in Cannes: Justine Triet鈥檚 Palme-winner 鈥淎natomy of a Fall,鈥 Jonathan Glazer鈥檚 鈥淭he Zone of Interest鈥 and Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon.鈥
What tends to really define a Cannes, though, is emerging filmmakers. Among those likely to make an impression this year is Julien Colonna, the Corsican, Paris-based director and co-writer of 鈥淭he Kingdom.鈥 The film, an Un Certain Regard standout, is a brutal coming of age about a teenager girl (newcomer Ghjuvanna Benedetti) on the run with her father (Saveriu Santucci), a Corsican clan leader.
鈥淲e wanted to propose a kind of anti-mob film,鈥 Colonna says, referencing the prevalence of 鈥淕odfather鈥-inspired gangster dramas. 鈥淎s a viewer, I鈥檓 quite bored of this. I think we need to move to something else and propose a different prism.鈥
鈥淭he Kingdom,鈥 Colonna鈥檚 debut feature film, arose out of his own anxieties around the birth of his child six years ago. It鈥檚 an entirely fictional movie but it has personal roots for Colonna, who was inspired by the memory of a camping trip that he realized years later was 鈥渁n entirely different matter for my father.鈥 He shot the most of the film in Corsica within a few miles of his hometown.
鈥淭his is where I grew up,鈥 says Colonna, smiling. 鈥淭his is where I learned to swim. The shower where her kiss takes place is the shower where I kissed for the first time.鈥
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
