Cannes Diary #3: From Haynes to Trier, a binge-watch kind of day
Saturday, July 10, 2021 at 7:38PM TFE is thrilled to have a correspondent on the ground in Cannes this year. Thank you to Elisa Giudici.
The Velvet Underground
by Elisa Guidici
It was a really intense day. I was greedy, I could not say no to the majority of the movies screened today so I basically spent the third day inside Palais, running from one screening to another. Six in all (!) With some positive surprises.
The Velvet Underground (Todd Haynes)
OUT OF COMPETITION
It is perhaps predictable that Todd Haynes would do a fine job in telling the story of Velvet Underground in his newest documentary. He is the man behind Velvet Goldmine and I'm Not There so he has already shown an understanding of the sensibility and the struggle of rock music genre and inner restlessness...
He does meticulous work recreating the rise and fall of the band and is able to tell a story of a group of extraordinary artists, both individually and as a collective. There's enough room for Nico and Maureen to shine as much as Lou and John. Haynes is quite effective even in exploring the "geographical factor" of The Velvet Underground story; The documentary also tells the tale of Andy Warhol's New York, as opposed to West "hippie" Coast. Maybe it lacks a little in the way of surprise, though. Haynes plays it safe both in the format and in the message.
AHED'S KNEE (Nadav Lapid)
COMPETITION LINEUP
The first really political movie of Cannes' main section, doesn't shy away from making same subtle, strong, and even poisonous points about Israel's growing control and censorship over media and artists. The existential cynicism of the protagonist Y. reminded me somehow of the dry emotional level of the best Kiarostami, but the director's approach (with camera movements that mimic the wandering of Y's gaze) is closer to recent Russian contemporary cinema. There is an existential tension underneath the politics of the movie, a closeness with depression and the desperation of someone who wants to scream out loud about his pain but refrains from doing it, feeling too wary, too old, or too aware of how thing works. Everything is well done and yet I was never into the movie, feeling detached from it on an emotional level. Talking to colleagues I've found that's a common problem with previous films from Lapid.
Cow (Andrea Arnold)
CANNES PREMIERE
In Cow the aging woman whose body is consumed by capitalism is not a work woman, a nurse, or a prostitute, but a cow in a dairy farm. The whole movie felt inevitable in a way, but I'm quite familiar with this reality, more than the average viewer, I suppose. Cow was harsh but not shocking, not for me. There is definitively a gentle anti specism political take, the same alluring discourse read in Jeff Vandermeer books or in films like Okja from Bong Joon-ho. Yes, Arnold take is objective and documentary in form, but there is a clear precise message behind it.
Lingui (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
COMPETITION LINEUP
...Speaking of struggling women in a violent and abusive world. Lingui is movie about a single mother living as an outcast in Chad's N'djamena outskirts who discovers her own daughter is pregnant and wants to have an abortion to avoid the shame-filled life of an unmarried mother. We have already seen this theme in Cannes films told in a rich, deeper way. It felt so didactic to me, predictable and compromised.
After Yang (Kogonada)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
I went to see Kogonada's movie after hearing a lot of hype among friends. They were so right. It is a gem, the kind of movie about family bonds that makes your heart melt while requiring you brain to do some serious reflection about technology's impact on life, minus the usual pessimism that come with conceits like clones and androids. I really hope our future will be like the one of After Yang, visually stunning, full of Korean influences and populated by adults distracted by their own feelings about technology, and outwitted by the most adorable little Asian protagonist in a movie since Minari. Like Minari, this was produced by A24 and if you loved that one, I think you'll adore this, too.
The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)
COMPETITION LINEUP
Julie is a 30 something woman who does not know what she wants for herself, professionally or emotionally. More accurately, she is oblivious to her own confusion. It might sound like a witty new Greta Gerwig movie. Instead it's the most improbable project and a very good romantic comedy from Norway's Joachim Trier. It is funny and light hearted with a touch of dreaminess, especially at the start and the end. I really did not expect this level of lightness from the guy behind Oslo, August 31st and Thelma. Quoting one of Julie's lovers in the film "it's intellectual, yet I am turned on a little bit by it". The Worst Person... was my final movie of the day, and my favourite, too.
Previously
Diary Entry #1 Annette
Diary Entry #2 Everything Went Fine, Onada, Yasha-ga-ike
Reader Comments (4)
These reviews are great, such a clear sensibility, look forward to more!
Elisa -- i'm so excited to read such positive reaction to the Trier. He's one of my favourite directors but i had trouble picturing this from him. So excited to see it now.
Elisa -- i'm so excited to read such positive reaction to the Trier. He's one of my favourite directors but i had trouble picturing this from him. So excited to see it now.
You make me feel like I'm there myself. Thanks so much for these!