Cannes Double Bill
7/21/2017
This week I had the opportunity to watch two films of the Cannes selection, both of them having been awarded by the Jury led by Pedro Almodovar.
Loveless - Jury Prize
The first one is "Loveless" by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Set in today's Russia, it follows a couple in the middle of a divorce, whose son goes missing. The investigation of the disappeared boy is a sad opportunityfor the couple to reunite, however briefly, while highlighting the dehumanization at work in Russia, and in the world in general.
This bleak premise suggests a very depressing film, and I'm afraid to say it is so: not exactly your idea of a Friday night movie. Even though I then had the opportunity to discuss the film with a friend around a beer at the bar du Louxor, located on the rooftop of this freshly renovated exotic Paris cinema.
Like a venenous illness, this lack of love permeates générations and centuries. Maybe it is enhanced by today's addiction to social networks and a non-stop amount of sad (and fake?) news from around the world. The film actively suggests it.
While it certainly highlights the darkest sides of the human soul, "Loveless" also demonstrates a vigor and a need for greatness that infuse Russian literature and cinema. The sex scènes are filmed in long tracking shots, slowly and gently showing the characters undress both physically and spiritually, to finally be able to form a connection. The two lead actors are equally brilliant. Some critics pointed a poor treatment of the mother's character, but to me they missed some important layers of Zhenya, who may seem at first like an excessively harsh mother and quite shallow Young woman, but slowly reveals reasons for her behavior. The Young actor playing the son is also very good, in particular in a heart-breaking scene towards the beginning, that would make every parent think twice before arguing in their own house.
While the direction is very elaborate and some tracking shots are truly haunting, I feel the film is too involved in its own misery. There is no counterpoint to the drama unfolding, albeit some brief lights of hope from the rescue team determined to find the boy.
Movie Parliament Rating: MINORITY GOVERNMENT
Awards Prospect:
Director Zvyagintsev pulled a coup when he won the Golden Lion in Venice for his first film, "The Return" in 2003. Since then, he's become a Cannes regular, winning Awards for every one of his features: "The Banishing" won Best Actor in 2007, "Elena" won the main prize in the Un Certain Regard section in 2011, "Leviathan" won Best Screenplay in 2014. "Leviathan" is his biggest hit to date, becoming the first Russian film in décades to win the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film It was also up for the Oscar that year.
Maybe less politically relevant than "Leviathan", "Loveless" still holds a good chance to appear in top ten lists by the end of the year, and is undoubtedlly the favorite for the Russion selection for Foreign Language Film competition.
This bleak premise suggests a very depressing film, and I'm afraid to say it is so: not exactly your idea of a Friday night movie. Even though I then had the opportunity to discuss the film with a friend around a beer at the bar du Louxor, located on the rooftop of this freshly renovated exotic Paris cinema.
Like a venenous illness, this lack of love permeates générations and centuries. Maybe it is enhanced by today's addiction to social networks and a non-stop amount of sad (and fake?) news from around the world. The film actively suggests it.
While it certainly highlights the darkest sides of the human soul, "Loveless" also demonstrates a vigor and a need for greatness that infuse Russian literature and cinema. The sex scènes are filmed in long tracking shots, slowly and gently showing the characters undress both physically and spiritually, to finally be able to form a connection. The two lead actors are equally brilliant. Some critics pointed a poor treatment of the mother's character, but to me they missed some important layers of Zhenya, who may seem at first like an excessively harsh mother and quite shallow Young woman, but slowly reveals reasons for her behavior. The Young actor playing the son is also very good, in particular in a heart-breaking scene towards the beginning, that would make every parent think twice before arguing in their own house.
While the direction is very elaborate and some tracking shots are truly haunting, I feel the film is too involved in its own misery. There is no counterpoint to the drama unfolding, albeit some brief lights of hope from the rescue team determined to find the boy.
Movie Parliament Rating: MINORITY GOVERNMENT
Awards Prospect:
Director Zvyagintsev pulled a coup when he won the Golden Lion in Venice for his first film, "The Return" in 2003. Since then, he's become a Cannes regular, winning Awards for every one of his features: "The Banishing" won Best Actor in 2007, "Elena" won the main prize in the Un Certain Regard section in 2011, "Leviathan" won Best Screenplay in 2014. "Leviathan" is his biggest hit to date, becoming the first Russian film in décades to win the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film It was also up for the Oscar that year.
Maybe less politically relevant than "Leviathan", "Loveless" still holds a good chance to appear in top ten lists by the end of the year, and is undoubtedlly the favorite for the Russion selection for Foreign Language Film competition.
The Square - Palme d'Or
Christian is the director of an art museum in Stockholm. A new installation called "The Square" is destined to provoke and attract people to the museum, while encouraging empathy and cohesion. To promote the event, Christian spends his days doing intervews with an American journalist (played by Elisabeth Moss) and preparing a video ad for social media. Everything may backfire when Christian's own beliefs are challenged, Inside and outside of the museum.
The Square is a tongue-in-cheek comedy, as staged and sleak as the art installations ironically on display in the film. Fancy Creators encouraging us to look at ourselves and be more generous, while enjoying parties and chic coktails... The irony is never lost, and while it suffers some shortcomings, the film also reveals layers of complexity the more you think about it. The director has actually collaborated to the art world, hence the extensive use of this Swedish museum's own galleries. Thus, the humor is much less gratuitous than it could have been in the hands of a lesser skilled writer.
The direction is super impressive: geometric shots and sharp focal lengths ensure that you are captivated to every frame. Director Ruben Ostlund has a distinctive skill: he knows how to instill suspense inside a scene that is not presented at first like a dramatic one. Thus, anything can happen, given that everything is paradoxically Under control. We feel the inspiration from his fellow countryman Roy Andersson (director of "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"). Ostlund wears his heart on his sleeve, maybe more than other "cold" modern directors like, for instance, Michael Haneke, Michel Franco, and Yorgos Lanthimos, to a certain extent.
The Nordic European countries have always been a model of integration, security, etc, at least to us French people. I've only been to Stockholm once, but I remember a very beautiful city, with clean streets and beautiful people. Here we see the Swedish city deal with the same issues of cultural identities, poverty in the streets, ...
If you've enjoyed Ostlund's previous film "Force Majeure", you may be satisfied here. It also deals with a male protagonist confronting his own insecurities towards his power status. It also gives a distinctive voice to children, that I personally feel as a hint of optimism & hope. Kids were involved in what was for me the most moving scene of "Force Majeure": here I didn't feel the same emotional punch. There are also some redundancies, which make the film feel a tad overlong and may explain while Ostlund is doing some minor edits at the moment, and why you may see in theaters a slightly different version than the Cannes one. My main complaint though is that I wish we'd see more of Elisabeth Moss. The film contains enough suprising, joyous & even frankly laugh-out-loud moments to delight you.
In retrospect, we can be thankful to the Cannes jury to give a comedy the top prize, allowing us some interesting discussions & debates to come.
Movie Parliament Rating: MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Awards Prospect:
About one third of the film is shot in English, but I think that's more than enough to qualify it for the Foreign Film race. "Force Majeure" made the Oscar shortlist, but missed the nomination. In a hilarious video, director Ruben Ostlund played an overacted disappointment. He is a fan of YouTube videos ("Force Majeure" used inspirations from at least two of them), and you can bet he was happy to pull off that small viral stunt.
The Square is a tongue-in-cheek comedy, as staged and sleak as the art installations ironically on display in the film. Fancy Creators encouraging us to look at ourselves and be more generous, while enjoying parties and chic coktails... The irony is never lost, and while it suffers some shortcomings, the film also reveals layers of complexity the more you think about it. The director has actually collaborated to the art world, hence the extensive use of this Swedish museum's own galleries. Thus, the humor is much less gratuitous than it could have been in the hands of a lesser skilled writer.
The direction is super impressive: geometric shots and sharp focal lengths ensure that you are captivated to every frame. Director Ruben Ostlund has a distinctive skill: he knows how to instill suspense inside a scene that is not presented at first like a dramatic one. Thus, anything can happen, given that everything is paradoxically Under control. We feel the inspiration from his fellow countryman Roy Andersson (director of "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence"). Ostlund wears his heart on his sleeve, maybe more than other "cold" modern directors like, for instance, Michael Haneke, Michel Franco, and Yorgos Lanthimos, to a certain extent.
The Nordic European countries have always been a model of integration, security, etc, at least to us French people. I've only been to Stockholm once, but I remember a very beautiful city, with clean streets and beautiful people. Here we see the Swedish city deal with the same issues of cultural identities, poverty in the streets, ...
If you've enjoyed Ostlund's previous film "Force Majeure", you may be satisfied here. It also deals with a male protagonist confronting his own insecurities towards his power status. It also gives a distinctive voice to children, that I personally feel as a hint of optimism & hope. Kids were involved in what was for me the most moving scene of "Force Majeure": here I didn't feel the same emotional punch. There are also some redundancies, which make the film feel a tad overlong and may explain while Ostlund is doing some minor edits at the moment, and why you may see in theaters a slightly different version than the Cannes one. My main complaint though is that I wish we'd see more of Elisabeth Moss. The film contains enough suprising, joyous & even frankly laugh-out-loud moments to delight you.
In retrospect, we can be thankful to the Cannes jury to give a comedy the top prize, allowing us some interesting discussions & debates to come.
Movie Parliament Rating: MAJORITY GOVERNMENT
Awards Prospect:
About one third of the film is shot in English, but I think that's more than enough to qualify it for the Foreign Film race. "Force Majeure" made the Oscar shortlist, but missed the nomination. In a hilarious video, director Ruben Ostlund played an overacted disappointment. He is a fan of YouTube videos ("Force Majeure" used inspirations from at least two of them), and you can bet he was happy to pull off that small viral stunt.
