The Cannes Film Festival opened solemnly and festively. The film-hungry audience stormed the auditorium despite the numerous forecasts made on the 24 films presented in competition. The traditional star hunters were in their seats on time. Their ladders and autograph pads, too. It was as if there was no virus.
Though, the usual crowd was still smaller than in previous years. Despite all sorts of organisational difficulties and inconveniences participants and guests do not spare words of gratitude to the organisers. Kleber Mendonça Filho, a Brazilian director and member of the Jury, was almost in tears when he said that it was his “first time in a cinema for 15 months” in Cannes. And in every speech, in every statement of the guests sounded an optimistic and hopeful thesis: the cinema will not stop.
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The festival opened in four languages: Pedro Almodóvar in Spanish, Jodie Foster in French, last year’s triumphant Bong Joon-ho in Korean and the chairman of the jury, Spike Lee, in English. It looked like a lucky improvisation or maybe it wasn’t? After all, these were true masters of screen illusions.
From the very first minutes, the festival declared that despite the glamour (of course, it has to be there), they want to talk first about all the important issues: human rights abuse, gender inequality (although, for the first time, the organisers always emphasise that there are more women in the jury than men), racial stereotypes, etc.
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This year, for the first time, the festival offered an entire program called “Cinema and Climate”. At the opening ceremony, two honorary “Palme d’Or” were awarded. One went to Marco Bellocchio, an Italian film director and the other went to the actress and director, Oscar winner Jodie Foster. The 58-year-old Foster first appeared at Cannes at the age of 12 with “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”. Then there was the triumph of “Taxi Driver” and many more films at Cannes.
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At the festival, the actress gave a master class, which caused an incredible stir.
A touching moment was when, during the opening ceremony, she welcomed with applause the participants of the non-existent 73rd festival. Recall that it was cancelled because of the pandemic, but the organisers gave it a number and the films selected for the competition were given the right to use the festival logo regardless of where their premiere took place.
The festival opened with “Annette” by Leos Carax, with director and lead actors Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver on the red carpet. However, the latter “didn’t make it through” the press conference, leaving the room immediately after the start of the film.
Carax, who returns to Cannes with his first film project in English after a nine-year break, was certainly one of the most anticipated films at the Festival. And it immediately sparked a lot of controversy: some call it a masterpiece; others call it a crazy vanity fair. He opened not only the festival, but also the main competition, so the jury will settle all disputes.
In addition to Carax, Cannes regulars, favourites and winners will walk the red carpet. For example, Ozon, Weerasethakul, and a lot more others. If normally the festival has tried to maintain a balance between the social distance and the invited celebrities, this time the preference is clearly given to the former. It’s understandable, since the contest was put together for two years, not one.
Some, like Wes Anderson, put the picture on the shelf, staying true to Cannes. His film, “The French Dispatch” brought the biggest number of stars to the Croisette: Benicio Del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody and Timothée Chalamet in memorable outfits.
But it is unclear whether the tactics will live up to the preferences of cinephiles. Against all odds, the festival has started. And that is the main thing.
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Text: Katerina Slipchenko