Cannes Diary 05: "Sirât" derails expectations

by Elisa Giudici

Film festivals remain the last true sanctuary for an endangered species of film experience: going in cold. Armed with little more than a title, director, an evocative still, or a whisper of plot, you surrender to the unknown. The magic of Sirât is that even this meager intel offers no real map for the territory director Oliver Laxe is about to unveil; not even the most seasoned cinephile will be able to predict the journey ahead. The bittersweet truth, however, is that in describing this film, I am surely chronicling an experience that will be increasingly hard to replicate. Like its protagonists, Esteban and Luis, you must lose yourself in Sirât, allowing the unexpected to detonate within you. But can such a pure encounter survive an age where every narrative tremor is seismically registered and dissected online mere hours after a world premiere?

Nevertheless, I'll endeavor to convey the thrill of what has been, for me, the most electrifying jolt in this year's competition...

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