If the Cannes Film Festival weren’t a movie show, but a box office success, its title this year would go something like this: “Cannes 22: The Return.” Or “Corona Cannes nothing for me”. Or “The Great Cannes Back”. Oh. Oh.
Anyway, it has to be bombastic: Thierry Frambux, the artistic director of the most important film festival in the world, wants to celebrate the triumphant return of the old conditions with the opening of the 75th film festival on the Croisette – which would be: crowds of people in in front of cinemas and on the red carpet, stars and stars, lots of movie parties, prestige films and glamor without masks, if possible. They are not so good for makeup.
Opening: “Final Cut” by Michel Hazanavicius. – © Cannes Film Festival
Cannes presented itself with a beautiful poster for the anniversary edition, which showcases a key scene from Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show” (1998), with Jim Carrey as the reluctant TV star. “The red carpet that climbs the steps to the hope of being in the spotlight. A poetic celebration of the unsurpassed quest for expression and freedom. An upward journey to reflect on the past and come closer to the promise of a renaissance.” The festival sees it all in an official broadcast on this year’s poster. “As in 1939 and 1946, the Festival reaffirms its firm conviction that art and cinema are the place for contemplation and social renewal. du Film is to show quality films in the interest of the evolution of cinematographic art, in the spirit of friendship and universal collaboration”.
This looks promising, and given the world situation it is of course important to give yourself enough legitimacy. As hit as the film world has been in the last two years of the pandemic: of course, no one expected a war “at the top” in Cannes, nor a war that plays an important role in the festival: not only did the festival lag behind At the beginning of war in Ukraine, it was announced that Russian delegations of any kind would not be welcome at this year’s festival, but that the Russian press was largely uninvited: All Russian media that were not sufficiently critical of the Ukraine war were denied the accreditation. Only a small remnant of independent media not under Putin’s control can enter.
Russia will
“not boycotted”
Festival boss Frummyx said in an interview with Variety that this is not the same as a boycott: “Cannes’ strength is in respecting who we are and respecting others. We don’t give in to political correctness, we give in to culturally correct. Don’t boycott. We’re looking at it on a case-by-case basis.”
In any case, they want to open up to Russia’s critics: “We would like to pay tribute to the courage of all those in Russia who took the risk to protest against the attack and invasion of Ukraine,” the festival’s statement on March 1 said. . “Among them are artists and filmmakers who have never stopped fighting the current regime.”
Russian filmmakers – most of whom criticize Putin anyway – are unaffected by the disenfranchisement, at least not those who have always found a lot of attention in the West for their anti-Putin attitude. That’s why “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” Kremlin critic Kirill Serebrennikov’s new film, is being premiered here, after the director was unable to travel for years and was placed under house arrest for alleged misappropriation of funds. Serebrennikov now lives in Germany, which made it possible for him to come to Cannes in the first place.
The influence of the war reached such a point that the producers of the films to be shown at Cannes changed the titles in advance: for example, the opening film “Final Cut” by Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), originally called “Z” was called. The “Z” has become a symbol of support for Russia’s war of aggression, which is why the zombie comedy was renamed to be on the safe side. A declaration of solidarity by the filmmakers “with the suffering Ukrainian people”.
the masks fall
the movies shine
The question of how Russians living on the Cote-d’Azur will deal with the ban will be an exciting one. More than 20,000 Russians are said to have properties here, many of the first homes on the Croisette are in Russian hands, often masked and therefore invisible to French investment firms. Overall, the Cotê-d’Azur is a preferred investment area for Russian oligarchs and nouveau riche, especially in the vicinity of Cap d’Antibes and neighboring towns.
In any case, there is tension, as well as the way the film show is dealing with the pandemic, which has been declared over in Cannes. The mask requirement has dropped a lot and this time there will only be a recommendation for the use of protective masks in film festival theaters. In any case, no more rigorous approach to corona prevention has been announced in advance.
That leaves the real mainstay of the festival: the film program. Old acquaintances such as the Dardenne brothers, David Cronenberg, Mario Martone, Arnaud Desplechin and Jerzy Skolimowski are represented with their new works in the competition, where at least four women participated this time, including Kelly Reichardt and Claire Denis. The old whites’ club in Cannes still hasn’t said goodbye to its near exclusivity.
From Austria, “Corsage” is the new film by Marie Kreutzer (from the “Un Certain Reput” series), which retells the story of “Sissi” with Vicky Krieps. In the area of blockbusters, “Top Gun: Maverick” is released with Tom Cruise, the actor also receives an honorary award. E: Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”) shows off his long-awaited biopic “Elvis” with Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, including a seductive hip flick. So you bought the power of the stars: Cannes wants to show that war and pandemic cannot harm the festival. You have to prove it first.