Vincent Lindon, President of the Jury at this 75th Cannes Film Festival, stated that “all our decisions have been obtained with a high majority”. He then campaigned for a renewal of his mandate. Did they think they could afford everything if there were no great films? In 2019, there was no great film, unlike 2013’s “La Vie d’Adele” or the “Parasite” year. This above-ground list was a good start.
Exit Alyona Mihaiilova, also known as “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”, in Kirill Serebrennikov’s film. She was the favourite for this prize, but she had a huge handicap: being Russian. The interested party noted that the film would feature the face of a woman who is facing the oppression by the mullahs.
The bravery and symbol of Zar Amir Ebrahimi, an actress exiled from her homeland for 19 years due to a horrible sex-tape tale, is what wins this prize. Her performance in “Mashaad’s Nights”, which was released July 13, is also a worthy winner. This crazy thriller is set in the ponds of the Islamic Republic and inspired by the true story about an Iranian prostitute killer. Ebrahimi, a friend of struggle and adversity, referred to Golshifteh Farahani as “her luminous twin” and to whom she gave her prize. She resides in France, and has fought to be accepted there. Ebrahimi described our country to be “paradoxical, full with happy people who like being unhappy”. A great lady.
The investigation into a Cairo Koranic university of a young man who was being manipulated by a cop earned the film the deserved prize. The codes of police suspense are reaffirmed in an unusual context. This intelligently brought to light the political corruption and religious slump in Egypt. The ceremony featured a touching moment as the director and screenwriter, who was revealed by “Cairo Confidential”, pulled out his I-Phone and took a picture of the room. He asked the audience to “say hello” to his mother. .
He was one of few favorites, along with Pierfrancesco Favino, an Italian director for “Nostalgia”, and Benoit Magimel, a Frenchman for “Pacification, torments on the islands”. Let us celebrate this great actor who was a star in Korea and on the Croisette, where his fame gained thanks to “Parasite”, (Palme d’or 2019), and other films by his favorite director Bong Yoon-ho earned him to be stopped at every street corner during festival.
This ex-aequo prize, which is first fault of taste, has the unique merit of making a big difference between two generations with two very different conceptions of cinema. The 7th Art and Life was on the one hand a long slide show (thanks to my comrade Xavier Leherpeur), but also as an endless field of experimentation.
One hand, young Belgian directors. Judging by the large skate they have rolled onto stage, it is clear that they are in love. The other, an intimate fresco of 2h27 about friendship, fathers and sovereign nature.
One side was a veteran of Polish cinema, Jerzy Skolimowski (84 years old), a killer face with big films (“Deep End”, Moonlighting”), who his wild youth forced to revisit “At random Balthazar”, journey of a donkey between men, in a desperate and punk parable about Europe, racism and migrants. His speech was in tune to his film, a tribute to the donkeys that play the main part, whose names and origins he shared.
While the Dardennes are great, their final film is not. Their dedication deserves respect. As with every Cannes competition (either systematically or individually), there are judges who don’t know the film and give a slight of their hand, no matter how minor. Noomi Rapace, a Swedish actress, was one of them. The Dardennes have won every Cannes award possible, including the Palme d’Or twice for “Rosetta” and “The Child” respectively, as well as the screenplay award. They needed this Anniversary prize to honor a whole career. The Belgian brothers, who were equal to each other, dedicated it to Stephane Ravacley (an anonymous baker from Besancon) who began a hunger strike to ensure that his apprentice, a Guinean-African-born Guinean, wouldn’t be driven back to Besancon. Respect.
The Korean master’s romantic thriller is a priceless example of Korean virtuosity. It’s almost too formal an invention. The festival is a regular for him, and he slowly accumulates film after film all the prizes, except the Palme which his “Old Boy” Grand Prix in 2004 had just missed. “Decision To Leave”, a playful cousin to “Cold Sweats” but platonic to the “Basic Instinct,” hits theaters June 29.
There is nothing that goes. The tie is the first sign of a democratic compromise that is not satisfactory. Then comes the decision! The Grand Prix is meant to celebrate innovation and audacity. We saw fewer this year than in “Pacification torments on the islands” by Albert Serra. If not for “Tchaikovsky’s wife” (Kirill Serebrennikov), “Leila with her brothers” (Saeed Roustaee), or “The Crimes of the Future” by David Cronenberg, this category would have had more. The jury chose to separate two of the most disturbing films from this selection for some suspicious reasons.
So Claire Denis was rotated three times by Vincent Lindon, president of the jury. He is suspected of wanting to endanger the career of his friend. A music video would have sufficed. Claire Denis, Claire Denis’s stage name, said on stage that “you have to bring people back into the theaters.” According to his film, he advised that they should be brought out as soon as possible.
The Palme du Coeur was presented to her in the final days. “Close” by Lukas Daont, in competition with his second film, moved Croisette. The spectators were sensitive to the forceful acts disguised in modesty and to the subtlety supported by this beautiful story about an amorous friendship between two teenage girls that turns into the dramas of repressed homosexuality. Dhont’s remarkable debut film, “Girl” (Camera d’or 2018, 2018), reveals only his worst inclinations. This includes a hyper-programmatic psychologizing symbolicism – all of which is paired with a sparkling Ricore aesthetic. The wiser, well-groomed Belgian Xavier Dolan than his mother and delivered a touching speech.
The staging and emotions of James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” (or “R.M.N.”) was breathtaking. Cristian Mungiu. The jury preferred the thigh-flapping, cynicism of James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” or “R.M.N.” to the elephantine manners and wit of Ruben Ostlund from Sweden, who is the only filmmaker to win two films consecutively in history. His “The Square”, which won the Palme five years ago, topped the “120 Beats per Minute” post. Ostlund’s cynicism is now vindicated by “Close”.
The Ostlund style is well-known, and “Without Filter” is a powerful film. Vincent Lindon, who was shocked by the film’s execution, confessed that the entire jury was shocked. His satirist gaze as well as unease humor weighed more than ever (in every sense). Ruben Ostlund claims he signed a Marxist film. Groucho Marxist, perhaps. But even then, he would have been hilarious.
We should all recognize him as the revealer of an era that is more focused on second degree and posture rather than sincerity or primary emotion. The world of cinema has an ideological, political and flashy view of its art that is detrimental to any artistic consideration. This prize list is not good for the cinema, it’s doing very badly.
