Cannes at Home: Day 4 – Christmas on the Nile

by Cláudio Alves

French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin seems to be on a downward trajectory. His new film, Brother and Sister, has been slaughtered by critics at Cannes, the worst-reviewed Main Competition title so far. For those legions who hoped this would be the year when Marion Cotillard finally won the festival's Best Actress prize, better luck next time! Tarik Saleh's Boy from Heaven was more warmly received despite some cries of conventionality. Through procedural tropes and thriller stylings, the Swedish director explores themes of corruption in Islam, a recurring motif throughout his filmography. These Cannes contenders are both directors' second 2022 pictures – Desplechin's Deception is a new MUBI release, while Saleh's The Contractor has been available for a while. Unfortunately, neither title got much in the way of critical praise.

To keep the Cannes at Home series a celebratory exercise, today's selection looks back at lauded works from these auteurs – A Christmas Tale and The Nile Hilton Incident… 

Click to read more ...

Cannes Gowns, Round 5: Swinton and Stone, Noomi and Naomie

Previous Cannes 2022 Polls: 1, 2, 3, and 4

And we're back after a tiny fashion lull (typical after the first few days of the festival). Tilda Swinton, always a red carpet stunner, returned to Cannes for 3000 Years of Longing, Noomi Rapace went to the Chopard Gala, Sharon Stone showed up for celebrity glamour purposes (what other purposes are needed?) and Naomie Harris attended the Women in Film event.

online polls

Cannes Diary #4: Narcissism at its finest and worst

by Elisa Giudici

Today is the day in which we explore collateral selections, not that willingly. As mentioned in Cannes Diary #1, this year the Festival organization changed the ticketing system. This ended the long lines (a win) but the downside is that the more hyped movies are harder to get into. Nevertheless, I'm happy to report my experimentation went very well! Truth be told, the Un Certain Regard section can be barely considered a “collateral” section, since it famously offers high-quality selections from soon-to-be major auteurs. The major letdown of the day, was ironically, the only title from the Main Competition I was able to get a ticket to on day four...

Click to read more ...

Cannes at Home: Day 3 – Innocence Lost

by Cláudio Alves

New films by James Gray and Jerzy Skolimowski have hit the Croisette, leading to many a Belfast mention and plenty of donkey talk. Armageddon Time, a memoirist exercise that purports to evoke Gray's childhood, has been met with mixed reactions, including here at The Film Experience. However, the consensus leans towards warmth, and, as a longtime James Gray devotee, I couldn't be more excited. After all, nearly every film the man directed faced some negative critiques, yet I love most of them regardless. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about Jerzy Skolimowski. His filmography has been a dependable source of disappointments. By reading some reviews (including Elisa's), his new project, EO, sounds like the cynical bastard child of War Horse and Au Hasard Balthasar. That being said, I doubt the Bressonian comparison will do EO any favors.

For Cannes at Home, today's topics are the film that should have won James Gray the Palme d'Or and Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End…

Click to read more ...

Cannes Diary #3: A stubborn wife, a great grandpa and... a donkey?

by Elisa Giudici

While I was on screening duty, Hollywood glamour was on shift-change with Tom Cruise out and Julia Roberts in. Roberts was here to hand the Chopard Awards to new promises of world cinema (Jack Lowden and Sheila Atim) and to enjoy a marvelous party, as I've heard from friends that witnessed it firsthand. But as for the movies, I am happy to report that on the second day of the competition (the third since opening nightl) we already have a soon-to-be infamous scene with the immense Isabelle Huppert as a momentary protagonist. Some weird festival stuff is coming, brace yourself...

Click to read more ...