What would Cannes be without its suspense? Especially at a time when France is boiling. In the wake of protests against the pension reform, the CGT (General Confederation of Labor) had promised “energy disturbances” during the film meeting from May 16 to 27, translate: “power outages”. Will certain dark rooms really be plunged into darkness, screens included? One thing is certain, there is a ban on demonstrations across the perimeter, with a few free zones, including the forecourt of the chic Carlton hotel, where the disgruntled will picket on Friday. Welcome to the Croisette!
Monday, Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, straddled the problem in front of the media: “The Minister of Culture receives the unions on Tuesday. It is not excluded that we offer them a platform. Cannes is not just about presenting an official selection. It is also to echo social realities. We showed solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the same with the climate. The date refuses to live in its golden bubble.
“Cannes, festival of rapists”, recently thundered actress Adèle Haenel, announcing her retirement from cinema. Frémaux declared his speech “radical and shameful”. “We are in a somewhat special era… But the place of women in cinema is fundamental. People congratulate me because there are seven directors in competition. I have no merit. There is a real evolution. »
On the menu of the week, freshness and rain. It rustles and it still activates around the Palais des Festivals to welcome the stars, including Johnny Depp, fallen son of Hollywood due to marital setbacks with accusations of violence against his last wife. Tuesday, for Maïwenn’s opening film, Jeanne du Barry, on the royal favourite, the former pirate of the Caribbean will climb the steps before playing Louis XV (with an English accent in Versailles!). “I’m interested in Johnny Depp as an actor,” says Thierry Frémaux. Its boiling filmmaker and interpreter of the title role finds herself in the hot seat for having attacked, in a restaurant a month ago, a journalist from Mediapart, who is suing her. We are promised controversies… And good films. What is better.
It still growls in the media ranks. For very popular sessions, sessions are already sold out on the decried electronic ticket office. Hard !
The confrontation between veterans and young people is fascinating. The newcomers have another way of making films, but the old ones are still there. It is said that auteur films have problems, but not in France, where they continue to work.
Among the directors in the race for the Palme d’Or, the French Justine Triet with Anatomy of a fall, about a woman accused of marital murder (starring Sandra Hüller), and Catherine Corsini for her film shot in Corsica (The return).
At a glance, this 76e cuvée promises to be tempting in this real post-pandemic return. Out of competition, the last Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon, will have the crowds running as it features its two favorite actors, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. James Mangold propels the latest IndianaJones. Cannes will pay tribute in its stride to its interpreter Harrison Ford. Michael Douglas will receive the Palme d’honneur. The Americans are back in force in competition as elsewhere too. It’s good for the international showcase. Thierry Frémaux refuses to speak of the return of Hollywood, insists more diplomatically on the word continuity. “Their presence speaks of the permanence and the excellence of the links with the Americans. »
Among the regulars already palmed with gold or not, the Briton Ken Loach in the running with his social drama The Old Oakthe American Wes Anderson for his crackling Asteroid City (Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton and Margot Robbie cast). We can’t wait to see Monster, the latest family film from Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. As Towards a bright future, by Romain Nanni Moretti, mixing circus and cinema (Mathieu Amalric and Margherita Buy on screen). Also dry herbs by the haunting Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, on a teacher accused of harassment, and The passion of Dodin Bouffant by Frenchman of Vietnamese origin Tran Anh Hung, a gastronomic romance bringing together Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel. Without counting Dead leaves, Finnish Aki Kaurismäki, on a meeting in Helsinki. And all the others. Pedro Almodóvar will accompany his short film in English Strange Way of Life and meet moviegoers. “The Cannes Film Festival does not choose the films, they are the ones that impose themselves”, believes Thierry Frémaux.
He says he is delighted to have newcomers in competition, and countries never or rarely present. There is Mongolia, Tunisia, Senegal. “We welcome documentaries, like Perfect Days, by Wim Wenders, poetry about someone who cleans the toilet. Indeed, the forms of cinema are becoming more and more hybrid, even works of fiction. In competition, there are “film objects” with different narrative structures. The confrontation between veterans and young people is fascinating. The newcomers have another way of making films, but the old ones are still there. It is said that auteur films have problems, but not in France, where they continue to work. »
In his eyes, everything is connected. It remains to fight for the rooms, not just in the Hexagon cinema, in Italy too and in several countries where large screens are collapsing.
As for the seventh art of tomorrow: “In the organization of the image of the world, the cinema will save itself thanks to works and artists. He makes us different people. The future is in his hands. »
Odile Tremblay is the guest of the Cannes Film Festival