Another day in May, more cheers and jeers for the competition films. Only five competition films are yet to screen: Fatih Akin's In the Fade (starring Diane Kruger), Good Time from the Safdie brothers, Sergei Loznita's A Gentle Creature, François Ozon's L'Amant Double (with two of his favorites Marine Vacth and Jérémie Renier), and Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here (starring Joaquin Phoenix).
Previously: Day 1, Days 2-4, and Days 5-6
And Don't Miss: Nicole in Cannes Pt 1 and Pt 2
So it looks like the frontrunners for the Palme d'Or, barring any of those five landing in a major way, are France's 120 Battements Par Minute, Sweden's The Square, or Russia's Loveless. But with Cannes and the mysteries of the group dynamics of juries, you never really know until the awards are announced. Pundits always forget that. People who assume that the Palme is a given for ___ are wrong nearly every year. That's half the fun.
Day 8 brings us one of the longshot possibilities for the Palme from the great Sofia Coppola...
Sofia Coppola knows how to toy & have fun w/ female gaze. I'm all giddy here w/ mischief. Grateful we have her. 🔥🤗 #TheBeguiled #Cannes70
— Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly) May 24, 2017
Sofia Coppola transforms The Beguiled from eager, lurid romp to witheringly elegant fuckboy takedown. Loved it. #Cannes70
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) May 24, 2017
The Beguiled
Early response seemed pretty giddy but that appears to be the self-selecting critics I follow on twitter who happen to be at Cannes. Some mainstream media sites aren't loving. Two interesting consensus points forming: 1) Kirsten Dunst as the MVP (that role wasn't where the heat was in the original with the Geraldine Page role, Kidman's role now, stealing most of the movie's fire.) 2) that it's very funny. The original, while wholly watchable and psychosexually riveting, wasn't exactly funny or even fun.
Palme d'Or Contender? PROBABLY NOT BUT... what a sweet sight / revenge that'd be after the Marie Antoinette boos! Or, since we haven't been hearing about many performances setting Cannes on fire, could Kiki Dunst win her second Best Actress award?
Reviews: The Guardian, Independent, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Telegraph, Indie Wire
#Rodin is everything that is horrible about arthouse cinema. Indulgent, narcissist, without depth, ambivalence & stale. Ugh. #Cannes2017
— Beatrice Behn (@DansLeCinema) May 23, 2017
Rodin
Jacques Doillon, whose most famous film remains the childhood grief drama Ponette (1996), returns with a heavily fictional biopic about the famous sculptor. Vincent Lindon, who won Best Actor at Cannes just two years ago with The Measure of a Man plays Rodin. But critics are not having this one. A lot of vicious responses.
Palme d'Or Contender? NO WAY
Reviews: The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety
RADIANCE (Kawase): earnest, gentle and conceptually exciting. many interesting and strong moments, but the execution isn't always successful
— Ioannis Kanonakis (@Cinefeeling) May 24, 2017
RADIANCE (Kawase): Someday I'll add up all the hours I've wasted on Kawase and weep quietly on my death bed. #Cannes2017
— Jordan Cronk (@JordanCronk) May 23, 2017
Radiance
A film about a young woman who writes audio descriptions of films for the visually impraied and the photographer, losing his sight, who she becomes involved with. Responses to the new Naomi Kawasi are all over the place but even the positive responses seem to judge it sentimental or sappy. One minor note that might be major, though: The audience reportedly really liked it, two standing ovations or something (?), which means this might be one of those critical/industry divides as we saw with Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World last year which critics disliked but founds fans within the industry and even won a major jury prize. Like Dolan, Kawase is a Cannes darling who started winning prizes with her very first film.
Palme d'Or Contender? PROBABLY NOT
Reviews: Variety, Evening Standard, Filmoria