Cannes: Two strong contenders for the Palme d'Or

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

THE ZONE OF INTEREST

If the Palme d'Or goes to a movie that pushes the boundaries of cinema as artistic expression, director Jonathan Glazer will have virtually zero competition. It is quite a rare moment in which, as a spectator, you realize that you are witnessing a true cinematic original. Making a movie about the Holocaust that feels groundbreaking is especially challenging given the plethora of films that have addressed and educated the world on the harrowing topic. 

In Glazer's adaptation of Martin Amid’s The Zone of Interest, not a single actor's face is shown in close-up for more than a couple of seconds...

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Cannes: Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

I was one of the lucky ones able to reserve a ticket to one of just two screenings of the hottest movie of 2023. So I felt like an intruder at the end, when a substantial portion of the audience clapped and cheered. I couldn't stop thinking of the incredible amount of money used to do absolutely nothing original or relevant. The good news, at least, is that those who feel a particularly special bond to the Indiana Jones franchise will probably enjoy seeing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

While James Mangold is no Steven Spielberg, it's important to note what he's up against here... 

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Cannes: Nanni Moretti's "A Brighter Tomorrow"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes...

It is not easy being coherent with your work when you have as strong moral compass as Nanni Moretti. The Italian director and Palm d’Or winner (The Son's Room, 2001) has built a career around his political beliefs and precise reading of reality. In Moretti’s world, everything is black or white, with some Communist Red. Compromising is surrendering to the enemy.

His new picture Il sol dell’avvenire  (English title: A Brighter Tomorrow) is a tale of how difficult it is to be alive in a world in which everything you love and believe in is either dying or betraying you. It is a movie within a movie with a half dozen other movies tied up in it (for me, a certain Tarantino picture came to mind but more on that later). After the disappointing Tre Piani, Moretti returns to what he does best: playing a fictional version of himself on screen, and letting the mask slip when necessary to reveal his pain...

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Cannes: Maïwenn & Johnny Depp in "Jeanne Du Barry"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes!

It is fascinating how carelessly Maïwenn gives her detractors such easy targets and ways to tear apart her work. She is the director, screenwriter, and lead actress of Cannes opener Jeanne Du Barry. The biopic takes place in Versailles in the years when both the old king Louis XV and the young and naive future queen Marie Antoinette walked through the halls and the gardens of the magnificent French court. The focus here though is elsewhere. The film centers on the elderly king's favorite, the low-born, sensual, and witty Jeanne. Multi-hyphenate Maïwenn shares Jeanne's giggly confidence, playing the protagonist with Johnny Depp as the aging Louis XV.

If you're thinking of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, you’re not alone. It’s the same realm of extreme luxury, absurd etiquette, and incredible loneliness, but viewed from a different side of the royal playground... 

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Finally in theaters... a review catch-up

From the team...

Every week there are multiple films opening that someone on Team Film Experience has reviewed at a festival either a couple of months earlier or sometimes more than a full year prior. We'll try to do a better job of alerting you to those films that might have piqued your interest the first time you read about them from festival coverage. In the past few weeks the following seven films have all opened in theaters. Some are much harder to find then others but here is a note on each of them... 

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