by Eric Blume
In other surprising/weird/interesting film projects ahead for us in 2020, filming just wrapped on Annette, a musical featuring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and directed by French auteur Leos Carax. Apparently Driver plays a stand-up comedian and Cotillard an opera singer, whose lives take a twist with the birth of their daughter Annette, who is born with a "special gift".
The movie sounds gloriously bananas. Is it in French or English, or both? Leos Carax is, without hyperbole, one of the most idiosyncratic directors alive. It's almost thirty years ago that he had Juliette Binoche waterskiing down the Seine in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, and eight years ago that he mystified everyone with the accordions and role play of Holy Motors. The man does not have a commercial bone in his body.
We know from Marriage Story that Driver can carry a tune. It's thrilling that at essentially the most pivotal time in his career, he's chosen to take a left turn with a movie like this. And it's been far too long since Cotillard has had a great role. She's utterly magnificent in Nine (not sorry, haters), and her two numbers in that film demonstrate her ability to both keep it simple / honest AND to fly into full-blown performance mode. But...she's playing an opera singer? Sounds iffy. Still, Driver and Cotillard are two of the greatest actors working today, and matching them sounds wonderfully inspired.
This movie on paper truly earns the letters WTF. Even if it doesn't land, it should at least be interesting!