With last year’s Palme d’Or winner,Dheepan, hitting select theaterslast weekendandMad Max: Fury Roadwinning the most Oscars a few months ago, you’ll be forgiven if it feels like last year’s Cannes Film Festival just finished. Alas, the top shelf film festival of them all begins again tomorrow.Mad Max’s ownGeorge Miller, who at 71 years old is only two years older than the festival itself, will head the jury. Miller will be joined on the jury by former Cannes Best Actress winner,Kirsten Dunst(Melancholia), former Cannes Best Actor winner,Mads Mikkelsen(The Hunt), and the criminally underratedDonald Sutherland(amongst a handful of other international film voices).
This year 21 films from 11 different countries will compete for the top prizes bestowed by Miller’s jury. Who’ll have that lovely day? Chris Cabin and I parsed through the 21 and came up with the 16 that we’re most excited about. Peruse them, put them on your radar, and be sure to check out the major out-of-competition titles that will also be opening. The festival kicks off May 11th and runs through the 22nd. And Collider will be there.
American Honey
Starring:Shia LaBeouf, Sasha Lane, Riley Keough
Directed by:Andrea Arnold; entered for the U.K.
Andrea Arnold(Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights) has been acute observer of the British lower classes and their desire for some mobility, andAmerican Honeywill mark her first venture stateside. Generally favoring a stable of unknown actors who will give natural performances (thoughFish Tank’s Michael Fassbender did burst out in a major way during the year of that film’s release),American Honeyis perhaps her starriest affair withShia LaBeoufandRiley Keoughas hard-partying, law-bending guides to the expansive yet empty American Midwest for a British teenager (Sasha Lane). As LaBeouf further commits himself to international arthouse cinema, Arnold seems like a perfect fit for the once blockbuster star, as the director favors long, physical takes to connote the direction of her characters.
The synopsis (below) mentions a gang of older teenagers, which LaBeouf and Keough are a bit too old to play, and working with established stars might already bring a lack of naturalism on paper. But Arnold doesn’t work too much with paper. She works with an observing lens. And, when it comes to modern American boredom, is there a better American subject to point that lens at than LaBeouf?~ Brian Formo
Star (Sasha Lane), a teenage girl from a troubled home, runs away with a traveling sales crew who drive across the American Midwest selling magazine subscriptions door to door. Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (Shia LaBeouf), she soon gets into the group’s lifestyle of hard-partying nights, law-bending days, and young love.
Starring:Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira, Judith Magre, Alice Isaaz, Christian Berkel
Directed by:Paul Verhoeven; entered for France
Paul Verhoeven(RoboCop, Basic Instinct) the Dutch enfant-terrible-cum-Hollywood-subversive has blended sexual violence—rape and castration—with business violence for 40 years of cinema. FromTurkish OrangethroughHollow Man, he’s created parallels between the personal toll of one-on-one sexual violence with the unseen and pervasive assaults of consumer culture on our bodies and minds. Staging a video game executive (Isabelle Huppert), whom we can assume produces violent first person games, in a revenge scenario after surviving a brutal home invasion/assault, seems like a perfect fit for the director to continue these parallels.
The biggest question is how detached or involved Verhoeven will be with the assault in question. As rape becomes something that more characters have had to endure on popular television, the methods that the director chooses to stage both Huppert’s body and mind before and after the attack will certainly be under close scrutiny at the Croisette. Also of note, Verhoeven is teaming up withJacques Audiard’s frequent cinematographer,Stephane Fontaine(A Prophet, Rust and Bone).~ Brian Formo
Michèle (Isabelle Huppert) seems indestructible. Head of a leading video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. Being attacked in her home by an unknown assailant changes Michèle’s life forever. When she resolutely tracks the man down, they are both drawn into a curious and thrilling game—a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control.
Graduation
Starring:Vlad Ivanov, Maria Dragus, Ioachim Ciobanu, Adrian Titieni
Directed by:Cristian Mungiu; entered for Romania
AlongsideCristi Puiu,Radu Muntean, andCorneliu Porumboiu,Cristian Mungiuhelped formed the cornerstone of the Romanian New Wave. Porumboiu has already made his mark this year with the quietly radicalThe Treasure, and Mungiu will seemingly follow suit with this drama about the relationship between a father and daughter following the younger family member receiving a fellowship. TheDardenne Brothershave co-produced this one, which speaks highly of its quality, but one would need to look no further than Mungiu’s previous works to know why this is already a must-see.
In 2013, the filmmaker releasedBeyond the Hills, a searing, entrancing dramatic interpretation of a small, cultish religious community, and before that, he served as the writer and co-director of the ludicrously entertainingTales from the Golden Age, one of the best anthology films to see release over the last few decades. And then, of course, there’s the lacerating, unforgettable4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Daysarguably the most poignant summation of the inherent evils of restricting the right to abortion in the history of the cinema. IfGraduationhas half of the dramatic oomph, narrative focus, and peerless imagery of these works, it will be well worth the three-year wait sinceBeyond the Hills.~ Chris Cabin
Romeo (Vlad Ivanov), a physician living in a small mountain town in Transylvania, has raised his daughter Eliza (Maria Dragus) with the idea that once she turns 18, she will leave to study and live abroad. His plan is close to succeeding, Eliza has won a scholarship to study psychology in the UK. She just has to pass her final exams – a formality for such a good student. But on the day before her first written exam, Eliza is assaulted in an attack that could jeopardize her entire future.
The Handmaiden
Starring:Ha Jung-woo, Kim Min-hee, Jo Jin-woong, and Tae Ri Kim
Directed by:Park Chan-wook; entered for South Korea
Of the handful of genius filmmakers who have come out of South Korea over the last two decades, including heavy hitters likeBong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-donand Hong Sang-soo,Park Chan-wookhas established himself as the preeminent authority on the causes and wild effects of mental and physical violence. You almost certainly have heard ofOldboyat this point, and if you haven’t, run don’t walk to your iTunes and buy it, or find the streaming service that is currently housing it.The Handmaidenmarks his first feature-length work since his American debut, the astonishingly undervaluedStoker, and involves an incestuous love triangle between a pickpocket, posing as a handmaiden, and the family that employs her.
This is familiar territory for Chan-wook, who also helmed the lurid vampire thrillerThirstand the harrowingSympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but his style continues to expand and grow deeper in philosophical and emotional meaning with each picture. BothThirstandStokerwere ambitiously, abstractly cut, as if the director were cutting into the narrative with the same relish that the characters attack concepts of traditionalism and societal pleasantries. You could expect some similarly bracing formal experiments inThe Handmaiden, but then Chan-wook has made it his business to subvert expectations at every turn.~ Chris Cabin
1930s Korea, in the period of Japanese occupation, a new girl (Sookee) is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress (Hideko) who lives a secluded life on a large countryside estate with her domineering Uncle (Kouzuki). But the maid has a secret. She is a pickpocket recruited by a swindler posing as a Japanese Count to help him seduce the Lady to elope with him, rob her of her fortune, and lock her up in a madhouse. The plan seems to proceed according to plan until Sookee and Hideko discover some unexpected emotions.
It’s Only the End of the world
Starring:Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Gaspard Ulliel, Lea Seydoux, Nathalie Baye
Directed by:Xavier Dolan; entered for Canada and France
BeforeXavier Dolan(Mommy) makes his long-awaited English-language debut withThe Death and Life of John F. Donovan, the French-Canadian auteur dropped down in France to stage his starriest melodrama yet. Assembling a who’s who of French cinema, Dolan’s first film set outside of Canada featuresMarion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Lea SeydouxandNathalie Baye(in the Dolan matriarch role), but will be led byGaspard Ulliel, who was last seen by stateside cineastes as Yves Saint Laurent in the experimental biopicSaint Laurent.
Like a millennial Pedro Almodovar, Dolan has been a great creator of original roles for fully-defined women, and it’s exciting to see what he can do with Cotillard and Seydoux, here.~ Brian Formo
After 12 years of absence, a writer (Gaspard Ulliel) goes back to his hometown, planning on announcing his upcoming death to his family. As resentment soon rewrites the course of the afternoon, fits and feuds unfold, fuelled by loneliness and doubt, while all attempts of empathy are sabotaged by people’s incapacity to listen and love.
Starring: Adriana Ugarte, Inma Cuesta, Michelle Jenner, Rossy de Palma, Emma Suarez, Daniel Grao, Dario Grandinetti, Nathalie Poza
Directed by:Pedro Almodovar; entered for Spain
It’s the new Almodovar. I shouldn’t really have to say more than that but, well, okay. Arguably the most influential Spanish director since Luis freaking Buñuel,Pedro Almodovarfocuses his latest melodrama around the tension between the past and the present, societal responsibility and personal desire, the tortures of life and the essential enigma of death.Julietainvolves the titular mother, played by bothEmma SuárezandAdriana Ugarte, at different times, who attempts to reconnect with her daughter, Antia, after the death of Antia’s father and Julieta’s first husband.
The trajectory of the narrative is almost never what makes Almodovar’s films so entrancing. In masterworks likeThe Skin I Live In, Bad Education, Talk to Her, andAll About My Mother, Almodovar alluringly conjures ghosts of desire, boldly physical sexuality, and emotions writ large in color and delirious, delightful performances. Even when Almodovar’s scripts don’t quite come together, he remains one of the most intoxicating visual artists working in film today, andJulietalooks to continue that tradition of the distinctly untraditional.~ Chris Cabin
Julieta (Emma Suarez and Adriana Ugarte) lives in Madrid with her daughter Antía. They both suffer in silence over the loss of Xoan, Antía’s father and Julieta’s husband. But at times grief doesn’t bring people closer, it drives them apart. When Antía turns eighteen she abandons her mother, without a word of explanation. Julieta looks for her in every possible way, but all she discovers is how little she knows of her daughter.
The Last Face
Starring:Javier Bardem, Charlize Theron, Adele Exarchopoulos, Jared Harris, Jean Reno
Directed by:Sean Penn; entered for U.S.A.
It’s been nine years since the last time two-time Academy Award-winning actorSean Penngot behind the camera (Into the Wild), and this romance set against the inner workings of international foreign aid is certainly within the outspoken activist’s wheelhouse. The cast is intriguing from top to bottom. The heavy lifting that Penn has to do is make us care about the lengths of hiding an affair that the couple at the heart of the story (Javier BardemandCharlize Theron) must endure, while they are surrounded by and aiding people whose country is being ripped apart. With the backdrop of social justive,The Last Faceappears that it would be more akin toInto the Wildthan Penn’s outlaw films,The Indian Runner,The Pledge,andThe Crossing Guard.~ Brian Formo
The Last Face centers around a love affair between Dr. Miguel Leon (Javier Bardem), a relief-aid doctor, and Dr. Wren Petersen (Charlize Theron), the director of an international aid organization.
Set against the devastating backdrop of war-torn Liberia, Miguel and Wren must find a way to keep their relationship alive in extraordinarily difficult conditions battling their mutual passion for the value of life matched by the intensity of their diametrically opposed opinions on how best to solve the conflict that surrounds them.
Starring:Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Marton Csokas, Nick Kroll, Michael Shannon
Directed by:Jeff Nichols; entered for U.S.A.
Fresh off his big budget (forJeff Nichols’ standards) original sci-fi,Midnight Special, Nichols has returned to an intimate character study inLoving. The film marks the American auteur’s (Mud, Take Shelter) first film based on a true story.Joel EdgertonandRuth Neggaplay the Virginia couple who were jailed and separated for their illegal interracial marriage in the 1960s. After valiantly failing to create another world withSpecial, Nichols’ keen eye for small-town America is welcome.
Whether Nichols uses the not-so-long-ago 60’s-setting to parallel the 21stcentury’s redefinition of marriage and racial inequality, or favors a stirring, singular love story, will definitely be of interest. Of all the films at Cannes,Lovingappears to be the one that most screams Oscar positioning for both the actors and the writer-director involved. Expect to hear if Edgerton, Negga and Nichols will kick off the 2017 award season a laCarolandMad Max: Fury Roadlast year, or ifLovingis more akin to last year’sSea of Trees, which has yet to have emerged from the forest.~ Brian Formo
Lovingcelebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry – making their love story an inspiration to couples everywhere.
The Neon Demon
Starring:Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Christina Hendricks, Bella Heathcote, Keanu Reeves
Directed by:Nicolas Winding Refn; entered for U.S.A., France, and Denmark
After hearing the infamous Cannes boos and calls of misogyny for his last film,Only God Forgives,Nicolas Winding Refnhas used his first female writers(Mary LawsandPolly Stenham), first female cinematographer (Natasha Braier), and first predominantly female cast forThe Neon Demon. We’ve seen a stylishtrailer,and we’ve seen many lovely images. Soon we’ll get to see if theDrivedirector’s descent into the bloody world of fashion is simply eye candy or delicious. With the young rail-thin cast and electro soundtrack (fromCliff Martinez) there appear to be some shades ofSuspiriaat play. And we’re perhaps most eager to hear how this one plays out.~ Brian Formo
When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has in The Neon Demon, the new horror thriller from Nicolas Winding Refn.
Starring: Adam Driver, Golshiteh Farahani, Luis Da Silva Jr., Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman
Directed by:Jim Jarmusch;entered for U.S.A.
What else can one say aboutJim Jarmusch, America’s preeminent existential, international jester? Between 1980 and 2010, the man is responsible for at least seven of the best American films to be produced in those decades, fromDead ManandDown by LawtoGhost Dog: The Way of the SamuraiandBroken Flowers. Three years ago, he produced the most progressively minded vampire film in years withOnly Lovers Left Alive, which starredTom HiddlestonandTilda Swintonas bloodsuckers who divide their time between a gorgeously decorated Tangiers apartment and a two-story Detroit home that doubles as a museum of rock & roll.
Patersonpairs him with the invaluableAdam Driver, who plays the titular New Jersey bus driver who comes home every night to his wife, played byGolshifteh Farahani, best known for Asghar Farhadi’s bewitchingAbout Elly. Beyond their relationship and intimate doings, little is known about the narrative, but Jarmusch’s film tend to be made up of moments and conversations, quiet gestures and unhinged dancing, visual experiences and roiling internal conflict. To see him work with Driver, one of the most expressive actors working today, is reason enough to keep this on your to-watch list.
Paterson (Adam Driver) is a bus driver in the city of Paterson, New Jersey – they share the name. Every day, Paterson adheres to a simple routine: he drives his daily route, observing the city as it drifts across his windshield and overhearing fragments of conversation swirling around him; he writes poetry into a notebook; he walks his dog; he stops in a bar and drinks exactly one beer; he goes home to his wife, Laura (Golshiteh Farahani). By contrast, Laura´s world is ever changing. New dreams come to her almost daily.
Paterson loves Laura and she loves him. He supports her newfound ambitions; she champions his gift for poetry. The film quietly observes the triumphs and defeats of daily life, along with the poetry evident in its smallest details.
