After the splendor of the Palace of Versailles and the vastness of the Wild West, the 76th Cannes Film Festival today takes us to the four corners of the world or the streets of Amsterdam with Harrison Ford for a very long documentary.
As usual, the AlloCiné team is on stage to experience and introduce you to the competition, as well as the discoveries, surprises and unexpected events that accompany it. For this first roundup, again May 18th was marked by the return of the famous adventurer.
A youthful impetus for empowerment
Fifteen years after the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones is back on the Croisette, bolder than ever. Thanks in large part to the opening sequence of Dial of Destiny where Harrison Ford Dramatically rejuvenated thanks to digital magic.
An increasingly impressive piece of technology honed over hundreds of hours by the actor to launch the ultimate adventure in which the newly retired hero reconnects with his youth when an enemy and an artifact from his past appear at the same time as his goddaughter, played by the brilliant Phoebe. Waller’s Bridge. Between nostalgia, tribute and emotion, the main event of this day in Cannes.
Tuk Tuk haters!
In Cannes, there are traditional photocalls, in front of the decor, which does not change from year to year. And then there’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, where the film crew huddled around a replica of a tuk tuk seen at work in one scene. The most memorable action shots of the film. On arrival, it gives an image that is as classic as it is extraordinary.
Indiana Jones and the Golden Palm
A year after Tom Cruise, another superstar walked the stage of the Cannes Film Festival: Harrison Ford. Accompanied by director James Mangold and actors Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook and Ethan Isidore, his on-screen partners and adversaries, the actor lit up the Croisette with his aura.
And Kahn gave it back to him, with an honorary Palme d’Or, which was presented to him minutes before the presentation of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. A prize whose place, no doubt, is in the personal museum of the man who tearfully announced to the public: “I love you too. You give my life purpose and meaning and I appreciate that.”
From smiles to tears of emotion
Harrison Ford was clearly very shaken up at this unexpected tribute night. “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes… and I just saw my life flash! (…) thanks. You gave my life purpose and meaning. (…) I am very excited about this tribute. But I have a movie to watch. And he will play behind me. So I’m going to slip. Thank you again for this great honor.“Even the heroes can get dust in their eyes… A very nice moment of emotion!
4:06 of the movie? We managed to do it!
Presented out of competition in special screenings, Occupied City is the new film from Steve McQueen, best known for his feature films 12 Years a Slave, Shame and Hunger. The British director offered a unique experience to the festival goers, namely the river documentary 4h06!
Inspired by the book Atlas of the occupied city (Amsterdam 1940-1945) By Bianca Stigter, The Occupied City paints a cross-sectional portrait: both an immersion into the Nazi occupation that continues to haunt Amsterdam and also an exploration of everyday life in the Dutch capital during the pandemic in recent years.
We discovered it in exercise style and this fascinating reflection on the duty of memory in projection, with a fifteen-minute break and that… to the end! At the very first showing of the film, Steve McQueen showed the public the way to WC. Because we remember, we have to last 4:06!
“No job justifies breaking people”
Only with the quality of Simple comme Sylvain, his third feature as a director, Monia Chokri got people talking about him. In the preamble to the screening of the film presented at Un Certain Regard, the filmmaker became the first chosen by the publication to talk about the controversies that surround certain opus.
“Why don’t we define our idea of genius?”He said, wanting to separate the man from the artist. “To be a genius is to be a good man who creates the sublime.”
Transformation of the day
As a reminder, a few months ago, Nadia Tereskevich and Benoit Magimel received the César, the first as a female revelation for the film Les Amandiers, the second as the best actress for the film Pacifiction.
So the two make a (very nice) poster for the same movie featured on Stefani Di Giusto’s Un Certain Regard: Rosalie. The latter had previously made a film on Loïe Füller, La Danseuse.
Rosalie is part of this line, namely the portrait of an unknown woman whose film offers a form of rehabilitation. Here is the story of a bearded woman and her husband, deeply in debt and first interested in the woman’s money, a secret he quickly discovers. The film, very classical in its approach, avoids any sensationalism and rather shows the difference and what some might perceive as a “monster”.
Sean Penn in the competition? This is thanks to Adele Exarchopoulos!
At the presentation of his new film “Black Flies” selected in the official competition, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, Johnny Mad Dog or “Prayer Before Dawn” director told us in an interview that it was up to Adele Exarchopoulos to meet Sean Penn:
“He introduced us when he was doing The Last Face. He told Sean that he should watch Johnny Mad Dog because it’s also about Liberia and he was also getting into that and the conflicts. And we’ve been in touch ever since. When he pitched the project, he was the first to I called him.
First of all, I dreamed of working with him because he is not only a legend as an actor, but also as a director, I admire all his films and, as a human being, he is an incredible person with his NGO, especially. At first he didn’t want to shoot anymore. So he told me no. It was in 2018. This is a film that took five years to make. But when we were ready and I went back to him, he said yes.”
That’s why Sean Penn agreed to make Black Flies with Jean-Stephane Sauvière, an intense and stunning drama about the daily hell of two New York paramedics. The 62-year-old actor shares the poster with Tye Sheridan, known for his roles in X-Men: Apocalypse and Ready Player One, among others.
Journey to Punk America!
Quinzaine des cinéastes is an opportunity to discover many surprising works that are ready to turn the Croisette upside down. Sweet East by Sean Price Williams is a good example. The film, completely insane, tells the journey of a teenager (Talia Ryder) who runs away and embarks on a journey through conservative, marginal, conspiratorial, trendy America…
Absurd yet delightful, this hallucinatory road trip holds up a powerful mirror of the United States. In the role of far-right academic we find Simon Rex, who was applauded during the 74th edition for his interpretation of Sean Baker’s Red Rocket.
The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 16 to 27, 2023.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
