The 77e Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday evening in a self-deprecating tone with The second act, the most recent satirical comedy from Quentin Dupieux, an indescribable filmmaker if ever there was one. Camped out while filming a movie, like The American night by François Truffaut, but constructed entirely of meta-narrative disconnections, this playful and biting homage to the 7e art is the most “Alain Resnais-esque” of the director’s films. Rubber and of Mandibles. While moviegoers were amused by the false setbacks of real stars Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon and Louis Garrel, on the festival organization side, we had to breathe sighs of relief.
In fact, a few days before its opening, the Cannes Film Festival was, one could read almost everywhere in the French media, “in crisis management”. Rumor has it that a list of ten attackers — famous actors and producers — was to be made public by the news site Mediapart on May 14, just before the traditional climb of the steps.
However, on May 13, Mediapart denied the thing. In a concise editorial, Lénaïg Bredoux, the co-editorial director of the site, wrote: “For several days, certain media, including serious ones, have been discussing the existence of a supposed “list” of alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, which Mediapartswould be preparing to publish. This is false, obviously. On the eve of the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, the media spectacle is pathetic. »
And continues, scathingly: “By spreading this rumor, the press contributes to disqualifying itself. In these times, this is bad news. Then, the genealogy of this false information is talkative: it was born from a tweet from a conspiratorial account, it was then relayed by the media in the Bolloré sphere [C8 et Cyril Hanouna en tête]then by newspapers taking an anti-#MeToo line (like Le Figaro). This needy rustling allows one and the other to proclaim quietly (in Opinion for example) that #MeToo goes “too far”…”
Meanwhile, a magazine investigation Shealso published on May 13 and where nine women make allegations of rape, sexual assault and harassment against the famous producer Alain Sarde, goes a little under the radar…
No matter, the Cannes Film Festival will present, with free access, at the Cinéma de la plage on May 15, Me too, the short film by Judith Godrèche. Remember that following the complaints she filed against filmmakers Jacques Doillon and Benoît Jacquot, the actress-director became the spearhead of the #MeToo movement in France.
Prank kindness
Moreover, the #MeToo movement is one of the many subjects and themes addressed by Quentin Dupieux in The second act, which casts a very wide net. We are moving on from the culture of cancellation, with this actor who interrupts his rough-hewn acting partner mid-take for fear of being canceled (sorry, of being “ canceled “) by association, to the artistic-existential convictions of this other actor who leave as soon as Hollywood calls, passing through the studios which rely on algorithms… Without forgetting the inevitable arrival of artificial intelligence in ” creation”… Candy.
What impresses most about The second actin addition to mastering the various levels of mise en abyme (nothing, but really nothing is what it seems), it is Dupieux’s ability to satirize and parody without ever really shocking or, to use the term now overused, “offend”.
Indeed, the filmmaker always manages to defuse potentially contentious passages thanks to some pirouette, revelation, or even counter-revelation. Above all, we feel that his gaze, even at its most prankish, is deep down benevolent.
And when, at the end of the last scene, we wonder if, in the context of the film, it took place “for real” or “for fake”, it is a sign that Quentin Dupieux has succeeded in his bet.
François Lévesque is in Cannes at the invitation of the festival and thanks to the support of Telefilm Canada.