Report from Cannes and questions you might ask to Lea Germain
Unfortunately, i have not seen this year’s winner of the Golden Palm, La Vie d’Adèle, chapître 1 & 2 by Abdellatif Kechiche, which is said to be a breathtaking love story between two young lesbians (Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux).
Back from Cannes, I find myself repeating the same things over and over again, and at the end of the day I feel I have said this about a thousand times “yeah- great ! No. the weather, not. Rainy. yes. that’s it. Films. ah? yes, beautiful. Borgman. Dutch movie. No, not Warmen, BorGman with a G. James Franco, special. Shorts. Short films, I mean. Parties? I don’t go to parties. LOL.”
Anyway, I thought it would be good to clarify some points, so I wrote down proper responses to some of your most frequently asked questions.
[Precision: I will intentionally ignore the question “How was Cannes ?”
Are you serious? Did you read the above? That is too generic, thank you for your understanding.]
1- Did you see movies?
Yes. Yes, of course! If there is one place where to see movies, then It must be the place.
The first screening I attended was the short selection #1 of the Critic Week.
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< the short films selection of the Critic Week >->->->->->->->
The first short was probably the best :
The Opportunist, by David Lassiter describes itself in its kickstarter campaign as“a short film about a young man who charms his way into a party, but his intentions may be less than pure”.
The other movies were:
Pleasure was the original story of a young porn actress whose personal challenge is to perform a double anal penetration. I swear it was not what you’re thinking.
The korean pick, Breathe me, was rather depressing and not really coherent. But the main cast was adorable and definitely had more humour than the director, so we can wish him good luck.
Océan, the only French Film of this first selection was definitely my coup de coeur. Showing a family’s summer holiday on the atlantic coast, Océan brilliantly masters to rekindle childhood memories with a camera beating close to the perceptions of its young character.
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< Alex van Warmerdam, Borgman >->->->->->->->
The first feature film I was able to see was the extraordinary ‘Borgman’, from Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam. (His name doesn't sound familiar, but I looked him up on IMDb and he is no newcomer). Screening in the official selection por favor,Borgman is the only film where I could get tickets without having to wake up at 8 am to order them online. Which means, people must have assumed the movie was crap. And for the very same reason, I did too. However - what a surprise! Neat and sharp like a razor blade, Borgman took us to places we did not expect him to go, with dark humour and mystery. The plot features Borgman, a marginal individual, who intrudes, his way (very) deeply, into the life of a pretentious middle-class Dutch family.
Alex van Warmerdam’s Borgman.
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< James Franco, As I lay dying >->->->->->->->
After queuing for two hours, I managed to enter the Debussy Theatre to see James Franco’s ‘As I lay dying’ screening in theUn Certain Regard category. Franco’s adaption of Faulkner’s classic is a strange piece of cinema. It took me a while until I really got into it, but contrary the half of the audience present, I did not leave the room in the middle of the film, which managed to catch my attention, and finally had me enjoy its dirty hands, its broken tongues from 19th-century thick American peasant slang, its picturesque toothless faces, its tragic sense of irony. Worth getting over the rocking camera and split screens of the beginning to come across this sick family road trip beside the mother’s stinking coffin.
James Franco’s As I lay dying
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< David Perrault, Nos Héros sont morts ce soir >->->->->->->->
Still in the Critic’s Week selection, I saw a French Film called Nos Héros sont morts ce soir competing for the Caméro d’Or, awarding first films. Despite some incoherences in the storyline and at times poor actor performances, I admired the esthetic choices of French director David Perrault. Very much inspired by his Nouvelle Vague masters, the film is a black and white thriller taking place in the milieu of wrestling in the Paris of the early 60s. Supported by a jazzy soundtrack from the time and a language of great poetry, Nos Héros sont morts ce soir (Our heroes died tonight) is a promising début for the Frenchie.
David Perrault’s Nos Héros sont morts ce soir
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< Diego Quemada-Diez's La jaula de oro >->->->->->->->
Last but not least, I was also able to attend a second screening in the beautiful Debussy Theatre, of the Mexican film La Jaula de Oro, The Golden Cage. Not without recalling Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, La Jaula de Oro tells the universal tale of three young Guatemalteca travelling through Mexico to reach El Norte, the USA, embodied by a dream-like vision of the snow. Mixing the genres of the road movie, the coming-of-age movie and the journey of initiation, La Jaula de Oro is one of these movies which tackles the usual representations of clandestine migration, investigates the motivations of its young characters beyond the traditional opposition between victims and villains in the often dirty business of illegal immigration. Despite a classical storyline, the film succeeded to avoid overly-expected dramatic developments to take me on board a colourful journey alongside its characters through central America.
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< German Films' Next Generation Short Tiger >->->->->->->->
Shorts again, I was lucky enough to attend to more screenings of these too often undiscovered gems.
German Films’ Short Tiger films were selected by a jury to which belonged successful Oh Boy director, Jan-Ole Gerster. All young directors were invited to present their works and contribute a few words before the screening. Fantastic, poetic, oniric, satirical, political, controversial, the shorts were a festival of very singular universes, an extraordinary experimentation lab for the emerging talents of Germany.
<-<-<-<-<-<-<-< Directors Fortnight's Short film program #1 >->->->->->->->
Finally, I went to see the short program #1 of the Directors’ Fortnight’s selection. 6 short films of varying quality were shown. My preferences went to the first two :
Pouco mais de um mês / About a month from Brazilian Director André Novais Oliveira, who co-stars with his girlfriend for a movie of such genuine and touching banality.
In the same spirit, Solecito documents the love story of two teenagers in Colombia . The best teaser I found on the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs’s website : “It was during a casting session in their school that the two protagonists of this film met the director. Each separately told him the story of how they had broken up. And what if fiction allowed them to get back together again?”
Léa GERMAIN
Project Manager, Support your local Cinema
