Every year, we cinephiles not lucky enough to be in Cannes at the time of the festival, mope around for two weeks, checking on critics' coverage, drowning in FOMO. Well, at least that's what I do. Not so this year. From now until the Closing Ceremony, let's check out past works from the cineastes presenting features at this year's festival. We might also take a look at some of the older flicks getting a new day in the sun thanks to such sections as Cannes Classics and Cinema à la Plage. Only films available to watch from home will be considered, of course.
With all that out of the way, let's dive in and explore the cinematic gems on this first day of our housebound international film festival…
The opening and closing days at Cannes are always a bit anemic in terms of movie-watching. The big parties and official ceremonies take up most of the day, meaning there's not much time for screenings. Still, we have an opening film to consider, a new documentary, and a modern classic fit to light up the French Riviera beaches. First up, since Leos Carax is premiering a new musical, Annette, our homely alternative shall be the last film with which the French director competed for the Palme d'Or:
HOLY MOTORS (2012)
For all of its strangeness, Holy Motors is about one thing above all else. Leos Carax magnum opus is a movie about movies. More specifically, it's about creating works in that famed seventh art, how they're birthed, glued together, and seen by others. Even if one considers it a failure, it's impossible not to gasp at the cineaste's sheer ambition, how it feels like the man's trying to encompass everything that could be expressed about cinema in a little less than two hours. He does this through the long day's journey into one actor's night, transforming and reforming with each death and rebirth, every stop an opportunity for a new chameleonic apparition. Denis Lavant is the human center of this blissful nightmare, assuming visages and bodies that don't feel like his own, breaking the fabric of reality with such disparate spectacles as Monsieur Merde or a melancholic musical break with Kylie Minogue. Seeing Holy Motors is to have one's eyes opened to new possibilities, new ways to dream.
Streaming on Vudu, Tubi, Kanopy, RedBox, Popcornflix, Pluto TV, and Shout Factory.
Next up, we have the work of Mark Cousins. The Northern Irish cineaste is back with a new chapter in his Story of Film. Two years ago, he also premiered another historical project. Only that one was strictly about women filmmakers:
WOMEN MAKE FILM: A NEW ROAD MOVIE THROUGH CINEMA (2019)
In his original The Story of Film – both book and documentary series – Mark Cousins posited that cinema history is sexist by omission. While it's true many an artist has been thwarted in their endeavors by societal prejudices, it's also true that women have directed notable films since the medium's genesis. So they are out there, audiovisual miracles that sometimes go undiscussed, unexplored, underseen, in part because of how historians keep them out of the canon. Women Make Film seeks to do a bit of righting this wrong, taking a look at the history of motion pictures whilst only referencing films made by women. Narrated by such artists as Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Thandiwe Newton, and many others, this epic is divided into 41 chapters, going from such subjects as introductions, to song and dance, surrealism, and dreams, death, endings, etc. Everyone even mildly interested in cinema history should watch Women Make Film. It's a revelatory experience and a veritable treasure trove of film recommendations.
Streaming on the Criterion Channel.
Finally, we have the first film to be screened at this year's Cinema à la Plage section:
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)
Time and place, social status, economic security, history – all these things define how we engage with the world, with each other. They further mold how we feel, how romance blossoms within our hearts, a fruit that withers and dies or lives on, sometimes forever untasted. Sidestepping traditional notions of narrative, character study, and big-screen passion, Wong Kar Wai creates a thesis on all of this while intoxicating his audience with cinematic form in full bloom. Starring two of the most beautiful people ever shot by a camera, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love is a hypnotic descent into a pool of pure desire. Reds have never looked redder, greens have never looked greener, love has rarely felt so all-consuming and sad. An impressionistic masterpiece, the film perfects cinematic sensuousness, rendering it in gradations of cigarette smoke and hot noodles. Words cannot describe its wonder.
Streaming on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel.
Tomorrow, Cannes at Home will be back with films by Nadav Lapid, François Ozon, and more! Are you excited about these alternative Cannes festivities?