The brothers Ethan and Joel Coen, great regulars at Cannes, palmed gold in 1991 with Barton Fink, had even chaired the jury in 2015. Since then, the links of the famous siblings had been somewhat stretched after less happy shoots including their Netflix production The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. It creates a void. Joel self-directed The Tragedy of Macbeth. And it was Ethan in solo who presented here in special session his documentary Trouble in Mind on the pioneer of rock & roll Jerry Lee Lewis. The filmmakers had already paid homage to American music in their works, notably through the soundtrack of the film O Brother Where Art Thou? And in Inside Llewin Davis. So we’re hardly surprised that your trajectory as a rock pioneer could have fascinated one of them. A very popular event in Cannes. For the Coen name, for the Lewis name, here we are!
On archival documents, often images of performances and TV interviews with blurred images, the filmmaker traces the career of this gifted pianist, who will have learned to play his instrument alone from the age of seven, in his cradle. Louisiana. The son of a farmer, Jerry Lee Lewis rubbed shoulders with the giants of blues, bluegrass, boogie-woogie and gospel, synthesizing these styles. Here, no interviews with friends and admiring musicians, but interviews with Lewis, who often discusses his musical sources for our great pleasure.
This sober documentary is not very inventive all things considered. Where’s Ethan Coen’s claw? Hidden. The jubilant aspect of his film lies above all in the extraordinary performances of Lewis over the decades, which electrify the senses. Because the piano had become an extension of his body, played if necessary blind, with his feet, standing, etc. Driven by an unshakable self-confidence, energy and showmanship to wake the dead, this exceptional musician and singer is the pioneer of rock. We taste the story of his extraordinary life, under the sign of I don’t care with a career in a roller coaster. Jerry Lee Lewis, after a life of excess, buried his peers, from Chuck Berri to Elvis Presle (great rival who had supplanted him by his sex appeal) passing through Little Richard and other legends of rock that have disappeared. Still alive, this great artist remembers.
After his smashing launch in Memphis, the interpreter of Great Balls of Fire, with his frenzied rocks and his crazy talent, during the 50s, had climbed the peaks of the hit parade. His marriage to his cousin of 13 years less a day will have burned him in the country, without dismantling him. Turning for a time to the country, back in the saddle, the one who was nicknamed The killer, admitted to being a bad boy in his puritan America and will have done what he wanted without the shadow of a regret. One thinks that such a delinquent and whimsical man could not have made a career today, despite his unequaled talent. Neither rock reborn. Ethan Coen’s documentary thus sheds light on a crazy bygone era.
South Korean shadow theater
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-Wook. who had launched films here like Old Boy (Grand Jury Prize in 2004) Thirst, this is my body and Mademoiselle (The Handmaiden), came back in competition with Decision to Leave (Femme fatale), an intriguing, stylized, elegant film, whose virtuosity of style (magnificent framing and shots, editing with a knife) does not hide a fairly thin frame. Kicked off at top speed with images of a mountaineer risking his life at the top of the peaks, it tackles the fascination of a detective for his widow, after the accident of this daredevil. This woman of Chinese origin, imperturbable and attractive, did she participate in the assassination of the husband? Here, the complex game of cat and mouse is declined between thriller and romance, in psychological drama. Because the detective (Park Hae-it, all in badly camouflaged feelings) falls in love with the lady (Tang Wei, very fine), and vice versa. So much so that the investigation into this disturbing death becomes hostage to the emotional impulses of the protagonists. In front of a sushi, in the suspect’s apartment, between the dragons of a temple, at the police station or elsewhere, the silences vibrate as much as the words. The icy side of the game and the dialogues, already present in Mademoiselle, is accentuated here on an atmosphere of subtlety which does not reveal all its codes. Beyond its complexity, with an unexciting story, the film struggles to fascinate. Unless you are an unconditional admirer of the filmmaker who has several on La Croisette.