4 years ago, one of the most important films in the recent history of the Cannes Film Festival landed on the Croisette. Her name ? Mektoub My Love Intermezzo by Abdellatif Kechiche. Abdellatif Kechiche returned to competition at Cannes after winning 6 Palme d’Ors in 2013 for La Vie d’Adèle, sharing the Palme d’Or with Adele Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux.
Preceded by sulphurous buzz, debates over the film’s unusual length (4 hours, eventually reduced to 3 hours), Mektoub My Love Intermezzo quickly became one of the most anticipated films of this year’s 2019 edition, alongside other highly popular films such as Once Upon A. Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino and Parasite by Bong Joon Ho.
The meeting was held on May 23, 2019, at 22:00. After 3:30, festival goers would emerge from this session in an ecstatic or washed out state. One thing is for sure, Mektoub My Love Intermezzo rocked the Croisette and caused the scandal that the festival loves! We’ve collected the hottest opinions from festival goers. Check out the video above to watch or preview.
By the way, what can we see in the movie?
If we stick to the official synopsis, it is concise and very simple: as the end of summer approaches, Amin and his friends meet Marie, a young Parisian student. To tell you a little more, here’s what AlloCiné’s editors wrote about it at the time, in light of this screening.
With his Mektoub my love: Intermezzo, Kechiche completely surprised the audience, locking him in a dancing and exhausting chamber… like a long night spent in a night club with deafening speakers.
If the first forty minutes in many aspects remind us of the first part of Mektoub My Love Canto Uno (pickup games on the beach, bodies burning under the sun, the lightness of a summer afternoon), the next three hours create a sharp break: from a luminous open space to the darkness of a crowded room lit by strobes; From gossip to barely audible snippets of conversation, to a still performance.
Radical, crude, voyeuristic, the film overextends bodies, dares to use a non-simulated scene, and disturbs, shocks its supposed choices.
Radical, crude, voyeuristic, the film overextends bodies, dares to use a non-simulated scene and is disturbed, shocked by its supposed choices. Should we see a provocative response to those who criticized her for the first part’s “male gaze”? Be that as it may, the cast of Kechiche, starring Ophel Bau, completely surrendered to their director, who they seem to have complete confidence in. Both content and form lead to argument, passionate argument, anger or hallucinatory rapture. One thing is certain, it leaves no one indifferent and bored.
And for more details, listen (again) to our podcast synopsis of the film:
How did the actors react to the reception of the film?
On the second day of screenings, AlloCiné was able to gather the cast’s reaction to this very divided reception. Here’s what they told us.
AlloCiné also compiled the film’s first press reviews, to very divided reviews.
Therefore, the buzz is shifted, the reception too, without forgetting the theme of the film. But now one question remains unanswered. Will we be able to watch this legendary film one day, because not so few have seen it? To this day, the film remains unseen and no release date has been announced, 4 years after the film’s Cannes screening.
Too anxious to show it and technically finished I should not have shown the intermezzo in Cannes
One thing is almost certain: “Intermezzo” will never be shown again in the same version that was presented at Cannes in 2019. The filmmaker admitted that he regretted showing the film “Intermezzo” in Cannes. “I was wrong to show Mektub My Love Intermezzo in Cannes“.”Intermezzo, I don’t think I have seen it. Too bothered to project it and not technically finished, I should never have shown it“, he explained to our colleagues from Paris Match or even the world last October.
On the other hand, Abdellatif Kechiche is still working and progressing on the sequel to Mektoub My Love, which is in three parts as a whole (except for the intermezzo), Canto Due and Canto Tre. In other words, Intermezzo should remain invisible, but this sequel is still planned and will be in the editing process, according to information collected by our care last fall.
Shine Boumedini in Mektoub My Love Intermezzo
In October 2022, Abdellatif Kechiche indicated that he wanted to complete the Mektub and present it to the public. “They shoot, edit, re-edit. I have been spending time there all these years. That’s pretty much all I’ve done: lift, lift, try…hopefully the end of Mektub soon“.
Therefore, the intermezzo must remain invisible forever, but the sequel is definitely relevant.
What is the biggest scandal in Cannes? Our special Brawl Choc podcast in Cannes!
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.
