3 Jours à Cannes: Cannes Film Festival 2022 Wrap-Up
Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
This year, Cannes Film Festival celebrated its 75th edition, along with a returned sense of normalcy to the world's most iconic film festival following a canceled edition in 2020 and a drastically scaled-back version last year in the face of the global pandemic. On the sunny shores of the Cote D'azur in Southern France between May 17th and 28th, Cannes combines the most contrasting experiences of watching films in dark cinemas all day while still finding time to enjoy the Mediterranean seaside's natural beauty and culture.
I was lucky enough to receive my Cannes 2022 accreditation through the "3 Days in Cannes" program, which awards film lovers 18-28 with the opportunity to experience nearly full access to the festival's impressive lineup. Although the festival does reserve a sense of exclusivity in the eyes of popular culture, the "3 Days in Cannes" program provided me the fantastic chance to attend the festival among the world of cinema's most prominent industry professionals, film critics, and cinephiles like myself. Therefore, I would highly encourage anyone to seek this accreditation for future editions of the festival if they want a one-of-a-kind experience in the epicenter of film culture.
Reflecting on my "3 Days in Cannes" experience, I have chosen to share my perspectives on a few of my favorite films from the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival this year. Below you will find my festival highlights and all of the other screenings I was lucky enough to catch. Bon voyage! Merci!
Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
EO
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Country: Poland/Italy
*Winner of the Jury Prize*
One of the most compelling competition titles that garnered terrific word-of-mouth buzz at this year's Cannes was EO, directed by Polish veteran auteur Jerzy Skolimowski. A wild, psychedelic revisioning of the 1966 French film Au Hasard Balthazar directed by Robert Bresson, EO takes a hard look at the state of modern Europe through the eyes of an ex-circus donkey called EO (think of the sound donkeys are known for). However, unlike many films centering around animal characters, EO avoids seriously anthropomorphizing its four-legged protagonist through its minimal dialogue and imaginative camera work that thoughtfully puts audiences in the viewpoint of the donkey in a way never seen on screen before.
As EO traverses the diverse landscapes of modern Europe, he is passed between handlers, both good and evil, while preserving memories of his former circus trainer, who showed him much love and compassion. Known for his prominence in the formation of the Polish New Wave Movement of the latter half of the 20th century, the 84-year-old Skolimowski preserves his innovative philosophies on cinematography and narrative to serve up a refreshing and masterful work with EO, one of the undeniable standouts at the 2022 edition of Cannes Film Festival.
At the Cannes closing ceremony on Saturday, May 28th, EO was granted the Prix du Jury, an award shared with Le Otto Montagne. A few days after the festival wrapped, Sideshow and Janus Films announced that they had acquired North American distribution rights for EO, so expect the film to reappear on the fall festival circuit later this year.
Courtesy of IFC Films
R.M.N
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Country: Romania
Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu is no stranger to Cannes Film Festival; since 2007, he has won the Palme d'Or, Best Director, and Best Screenplay prizes for his social realist dramas that contend with everyday life in his home country. At the 75th edition of Cannes this year, Mungiu premiered his latest film, R.M.N, a fascinating look at a multi-ethnic Transylvanian village whose residents are challenged with conceptions of xenophobia along with their own community's precarious positioning in relation to Europe as a whole.
R.M.N’s narrative focus oscillates between various perspectives of its village's community members, shifting from successful business owners to the town priest to migrant workers from Sri Lanka. Mungiu can address Romania's historically shaky situation between the Eastern and Western worlds through these diverse outlooks. Mungiu's decision to face so many diverging ideas and opinions regarding migrant labor allows the masterful director to emphasize the village's xenophobic tendencies while addressing the reality that many Romanians become migrant workers themselves in search of more promising opportunities. As community tensions unhurriedly come to a head in R.M.N, the film's finale expertly builds to one of the most thrilling and surreal scenes of Mungiu's career as a filmmaker.
Shortly before R.M.N made its red carpet debut at Cannes, IFC Films purchased the North American distribution rights for the film, which could easily become the Romanian Oscar entry for Best International Film in 2023. R.M.N will likely reenter the awards conversation at film festivals like Telluride or TIFF later this year.
Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
Scarlet (French title: L'envol)
Director: Pietro Marcello
Country: France/Italy
Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello opened the Directors Fortnight section at Cannes this year with his French-language romantic tale, Scarlet. Loosely adapted from a Soviet novel by Alexander Grin, Scarlet is wonderfully delicate and heartwarming. The film centers around a widowed father raising his gifted daughter with the help of an unlikely chosen family in a remote Northern French village following the First World War.
Like with his critically hailed 2019 adaptation of Martin Eden, Marcello again shows his affection for the early years of cinema by seamlessly blending footage from World War I and 35mm film in Scarlet, resulting in a beautifully handcrafted work that poetically showcases the oddball family at its center. Marcello's rich visual sensibilities perfectly embody Scarlet's interwar setting, when capitalism and industry had not yet overtaken simpler ways of living. The film's father and daughter, Raphaël and Juliette, embody the purity of those who worked with their hands in the past, artisans who lived off the land and still believed in the unseen magic of our world. Raphaël is a talented woodworker who instills the passion for creation in Juliette, who aspires to become a singer as she reaches adulthood in the latter half of the film. As Juliette grows into her singing talent, the film takes on a musical context that is perfectly handled without venturing into the territory of campiness. Ultimately, Scarlet blends touching narratives and visuals to create an uplifting film that feels like watching a beautiful lullaby.
While some viewers may desire a more significant political or historical statement from Scarlet, I believe it is a moving and exquisite work of cinema that felt like an escape from the madness of the modern world for its 100-minute run time. I can see this film easily reappearing on the fall festival circuit, where it can garner a more enthusiastic word of mouth. Scarlet is currently seeking a distributor in the United States.
Courtesy of A24 Films.
Showing Up
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Country: United States
Finally making her debut in the festival's Main Competition this year was Kelly Reichardt with her latest film, Showing Up. Teaming with her muse Michelle Williams on their fourth collaboration, Showing Up, struck me as being Reichardt's most personal and uncompromising film to date. Williams stars as an up-and-coming Portland sculptor on the verge of a creative crisis as the most important exhibition of her career approaches.
Williams plays Lizzy, a sculptor in her late-30s who hails from an artistic family and makes her living as an office administrator at a Portland art school. As Lizzy's major show draws closer, her emotions and reactions to the world around her are heightened and cause her to feel estranged from her social circle. Weathering the agony of the creative process, Lizzy works through her feelings of artistic insecurity and inferiority to her peers.
In the hands of lesser filmmakers, Showing Up could have quickly fallen apart due to the film's tight screenplay and subtle comedic performances. However, the masterful Reichardt never loses command over her film, which she co-wrote with her longtime creative partner Jonathan Raymond. Although much less ambitious than the filmmaker's last directorial effort, the 2019 Revisionist Western First Cow, Showing Up seems to directly channel Reichardt through Lizzy's character. Lizzy's demanding creative process and her university day job (Reichardt has been a college professor for years to help support her filmmaking ventures) tune in to Reichardt's experiences in a unique method never seen before in her previous work.
Devotees of Reichardt's naturalistic style and focus on alienated characters of the American landscape should quickly surrender to what the talented director is working to achieve with Showing Up. However, the film's stoical ruminations on the creative process could lose viewers who are more interested in a movie that feeds them specific answers. A24 is handling the distribution of Showing Up, so expect to see this film's release handled with the most excellent care in the future.
Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
Triangle of Sadness
Director: Ruben Östlund
Country: France, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States.
*Winner of the Palme d'Or*
I strongly feel that most patrons at Cannes could quickly agree that Triangle of Sadness was the most crowd-pleasing film in this year's Main Competition. Although Swedish director Ruben Östlund's latest satire-comedy makes sweeping criticisms of modern social hierarchies that do not always hold up, the sheer boldness of Triangle of Sadness makes for a riotously entertaining viewing experience that had Cannes howling with laughter.
Combining an incredible cast of discoveries and favorite faces, Triangle of Sadness includes memorable performances from Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean as a model/influencer couple and Woody Harrelson as a Marxist boat captain. The film plays out in a three-part structure (a triangle, if you will), with the centerpiece taking place on a megayacht charter full of wealthy guests, including the model couple. Triangle of Sadness comes to a head when a sea storm completely ruins the yacht charter's fanciest dinner, leading to shit (and vomit) literally the fan. By the following day, the charter's guests and crew members alike find themselves stranded on a deserted island, where the forces of the modern world no longer divide the lines between social classes. Building on "lost at sea" tropes of past work ranging from Lord of the Flies to Gilligan's Island, director Östlund instills his postmodern sense of humor and wit to create a film as watchable, and thought-provoking as a Cannes-selected film ever has been.
Triangle of Sadness broke to mixed reviews during the festival despite its strong audience reaction. Many thought it highly unlikely that Östlund would win another Palme d'Or after his last film, the more divisive The Square, won the award in 2017. However, feeling and hearing the audience's experience while the movie was screening makes it easy to believe why Triangle of Sadness became the consensus film for the Palme d'Or among the festival's diverse competition jury this year. Furthermore, after the film's red carpet premiere, Neon won the bidding war for U.S distribution rights and paid $8-$10 million to secure the acquisition. Expect to see Triangle of Sadness released stateside by the end of the year, with the film potentially being positioned for an Original Screenplay or Best Director Oscar in 2023.
Other Films I Caught At Cannes:
Armageddon Time: James Gray
Corsage: Marie Kreutzer. *Un Certain Regard Best Performance Award for Vicky Krieps*
Le Otto Montagne: Felix va Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch. *Jury Prize Tie*
Pacification: Albert Serra
Tchaikovsky’s Wife: Kirill Serebrennikov
The Stars at Noon: Claire Denis. *Grand Prix Winner*