Monsterby Hirokazu Kore-eda
The multiple facets of the same truth
To all lord, all honor, the official competition was launched on Wednesday by one of the five former winners of the Palme d’Or again in the running this year for the prestigious award. Winner in 2018 thanks to A family matterHirokazu Kore-eda also found himself on the charts last year when Song Kang-ho, star of his film The lucky stars, won the interpretation prize. Recognized moreover for the sensitive way in which he knows how to portray childhood (Nobody Knows, Like father, like son), the Japanese filmmaker offers a new variation on this theme through the journey of a pre-adolescent whose behavior begins to change, raising the concern of his mother. Also distinguished by the ultimate musical score by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, Monster tells a story Rashomon. Asking for an explanation from the management of the school where the young teacher teaches who allegedly hit her son, a woman finally faces a situation much less clear than it seemed at the start. Once again, Hirokazu Kore-eda draws outstanding performances from his young performers.
PHOTO EMMYLOU MAI, PROVIDED BY THE PACTE
Scene from The return. This film by Carherine Corsini is in the running for the Palme d’Or.
The returnby Catherine Corsini
Nice outfit, but nothing very distinctive
Much has been said about the controversy surrounding Catherine Corsini’s new film, less about the subject as such. After An impossible love And The divide, the filmmaker turns to an initiatory story built around a family secret. When we meet Khédidja (Aïssatou Diallo Sagna), she is surrounded by her two little girls, ready to board the ferry leaving Corsica, who are upset by bad news received on the phone. Fifteen years later, Khédidja returns to Corsica with her two teenage daughters, hired by a wealthy Parisian family to take care of the children during a summer on the island of Beauty. From this starting point, Catherine Corsini is mainly interested in the stories of the two teenagers – with very different temperaments – who begin to live their lives as young adults. Discovery of his sexual orientation for one, connivance with small dealers for the other, the two young women will also be confronted with a past that has been hidden from them. With her usual direct approach (no complacency in the scenes of a sexual nature, that said), Catherine Corsini offers a film of good quality, which however struggles to stand out in an already very popular genre. The return is in the running for the Palme d’Or.