By mixing a scandalous news item, a reflection on the work of an actress and an offbeat melodrama, Todd Haynes tangles his brushes.
We knew Todd Haynes in better shape: with Dark Water, carol (Award for Best Actress, Cannes 2015), or Velvet Goldmine (Prize for the best artistic contribution, Cannes 1998)… In May-Decemberwith which he is in competition for the third time at Cannes, the director does not keep his promises, by putting too many disparate themes in a single film.
Mimesis, miscellaneous and melodrama
Famous actress, Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) convinced the fallen star Grace Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore) to rub shoulders with her to get to know her better in order to interpret her on screen. His host caused a scandal twenty years ago for having had a relationship with Joe (Charles Melton), a 13-year-old boy. They are now married, but an irrepressible attraction will push Elizabeth into Joe’s arms.
Todd Haynes says he wanted to process in May-December of the theme of mimesis, of the mirror game that takes place between the actor and his role. Vast subject which would be enough in itself. But it takes as its starting point the case of mathematics teacher Mary Kay Letourneau who was convicted in 1997 in the United States of having had sexual intercourse with one of her 12-year-old students, whom she later married. .This other subject would have been enough for a single film. It then continues its plot with the relationship between Elizabeth and Joe. That makes a lot.
Second degree
If the meeting between Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman is a good idea and works on screen, remember that the first had a fairly similar role in Maps to the Stars by David Cronenberg, which won her the Cannes Best Actress Award in 2014. The film is nonetheless, apart from its thematic overload, very dialogical, and would lend itself, like many films, and not just Cannes, more to the theater than in the cinema.
Todd Haynes is nonetheless a filmmaker and always polishes a neat image, while striving as best he can to give rhythm to his dialogues. The best comes from his last ones, since they dominate the film, impregnated with a deadpan second degree that is sometimes tasty. Metaphorical heavinesses, like the chrysalis, symbol of Joe’s metamorphosis, or the snake, which evokes sexuality, weigh down the film, however. Even the fans of Haynes met on the Croisette consider the film to be minor, a point on which we agree with them.
The sheet
Gender : Drama
Director: Todd Haynes
Actors: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton
Country : UNITED STATES
Duration : 1h53
Exit : shortly
Distributer : ARP Selection