Thankful for... Cláudio Alves!

This year for our "thankful for" column we're mixing it up a bit. Instead of asking our contributors to share a brief list of favourite things, I'm interviewing them so you can get to know them a bit better. We love them all, here, at TFE HQ and hope you do too. On Thanksgiving's Eve let's talk to our most frequent contributor, CLÁUDIO ALVES. 

Cláudio first joined us two and a half years ago and it makes all kind of sense that his first piece was on the potential of Oscar's costume design race of 2019. He blesses us with his expressive writing so often it's hard to choose favourites or even know where to point you but if you're just joining us but our most popular series, currently, is his "Almost There" column on performances that didn't quite win Oscar favor so start there! Other passions of his include film festivals and International Cinema and Hollywood History. Any links in this interview go to related beautiful pieces of his, too.

Here's our short interview...

When did you first fall in love with the movies?

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Is 2021 the year of Adam Driver?

by Cláudio Alves

Leos Carax's Annette hits streaming today. You can watch this year's Cannes Best Director prize-winning feature on Amazon Prime Video and bask in all its insanity. The picture has proven pretty divisive, which is no surprise. Many of the director's anti-naturalistic choices and the Sparks' off-kilter music have been at the center of praise and pans. But, along with them, the most contested element of Annette seems to be its leading man, Adam Driver, whose performance goes to extremes of operatic grandeur intersected by American realism, aggressive anti-comedy, a guttural plunge into the depths of self-hatred. It's a big performance, maybe the biggest in the actor's career, so vast in risks and pitfalls, one can't help but admire the ambition. Annette also represents the first of three major projects the actor has coming out in 2021, marking this year as one of the potential high points in Driver's ever-growing career…

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Posterized: one of a kind auteur Leos Carax

"Posterized" returns for a new season. Every Friday!

by Nathaniel R

If you've followed the career of French director Leos Carax over the years than the response to his latest picture, Annette, which opened Cannes last month and hits theaters today, did not surprise you. He's always been a director who left some scratching their heads while leaving others thrilled or even reverently besotted. If you haven't yet experienced any of his movies we urge you to try them out to see which camp you fall into. 

How many of his 7⅓  pictures have you seen?  The posters are after the jump...

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Cannes Diary #1: Adam Driver singing, journalists spitting, and other minor inconveniences

TFE is thrilled to have a correspondent on the ground in Cannes this year. Please welcome back Elisa Giudici.

by Elisa Guidici

It's my first day of my first year as a press pass holder at Cannes Film Festival. Let me tell you that as an Italian, I am so proud of how Venice Mostra handled their Covid-19 edition last season. Cannes had an extra year to plan how to be efficient, safe and as Covid-free as possible. How did the organisation spent these months?.The ticketing system to avoid long queues before screenings? A hot mess. The website? Almost always down. Covid tests? Bizzarre, but at least free for pass holders...

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Cannes Review: The unsteady but miraculous "Annette"

by Cláudio Alves

It all starts in the recording studio, as Leos Carax and his daughter - to whom this achingly personal film is dedicated - observe the Sparks working their magic. The reference to supernatural powers when writing on artistic marvel is overused, but it does seem fitting for Annette. Here, performance can invoke a new reality, singing it into existence. That's what the film's team does in this metatextual prologue. As the Sparks exit the recording booth, the camera and the Carax duo follow, with the movie stars joining along for good measure. As they ask "May We Start," they also admonish the audience, heed them, warn them, and set the stage for what's to come. Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard depart in separate vehicles at the end of the song, no longer themselves. The ritual of performance has begun – they're now Henry and Ann…

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