![]() He’s feverish, the city’s febrile, and events - real and imagined - collide. Our unwitting guide is Petrov (Semyon Serzin), a comic book artist whose bout of flu sends viewers into a tailspin. Kirill Serebrennikov takes us on a 24-hour tour of Yekaterinburg on New Year’s Eve that’s less “Ulysses”-of-the-Urals and more like jumping into a Hieronymus Bosch painting of post-Soviet Russia. Here’s a selection of films, from both the 2021 festival’s Official Selection and wider program, that pushed boundaries and injected new life into cinema. It’s also a useful frame through which to view Cannes, where there is always more to discuss than time allows. New things are happening all around us - as long as you’re looking in the right places. ![]() It’s a useful frame through which to view cinema, beset as it is with doomsayers bemoaning the streaming wars and the recycling of intellectual property. In it, he posed the question: Which films have pushed the boundaries of the medium? Moreover, how? Mark Cousins provided that with his documentary “The Story of Film: A New Generation,” which preceded the opening ceremony and cast an eye over the past decade of cinema. So Cannes’ mission can be said to be a success.Ĭannes has always been a case of “in with the new,” making a pause to reflect on what’s come before all the more necessary. Once the froth of the festival settles, what’s left is another crop of films from around the world, from places expected and not, rated, reviewed and ready to find their way to the public. Other trends this year included seemingly every other film being compared to the Safdie brothers’ “ Uncut Gems,” and the meme-ification of “The French Dispatch’s” photo call (who knew Timothée Chalamet, Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray were so relatable?). Indeed, both “Annette” and “Benedetta” contributed to what was a horny old festival on many accounts. “Benedetta,” his historical nunsploitation movie starring Virginie Efira, wasn’t lacking in controversy. Among them were Jacques Audiard, Bruno Dumont, François Ozon and Nanni Moretti.Īnother old hand was Paul Verhoeven, an agent provocateur who’s been walking the tight rope of high trash/high art (depending on how you read his films) for years now. Many festival luminaries returned to the Croisette, providing talking points but leaving empty handed. Tilda Swinton filled the void, her ethereal presence gracing films by Joanna Hogg, Wes Anderson, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Mark Cousins - as varied a group a directors as one could hope to assemble. But perhaps more importantly for festival organizers, Lea Seydoux, who would have been everywhere with no fewer than four films in the Official Selection, was kept at home by a positive coronavirus test ( she is reportedly asymptomatic). (Twitter has been awash with nearly as many reviews of saliva samples as of films in recent weeks.) Some, alas, did not make it - including this writer. Covid-19 restrictions have made life difficult for traveling industry figures and press, many of whom were required to take tests every 48 hours in order to access the Palais des Festivals. No one would ever accuse the festival of thinking too little of itself, but when a program stacked with huge names was unveiled in June, Cannes’ savior complex started looking justified.Ī rumbling pandemic had other ideas. There is no glamor to be found at online screenings, and what is Cannes without glamor? Diamonds and couture do not photograph well on Zoom. Many festivals have, in the past 12 months, gone hybrid or virtual (Venice being the notable exception), but this would not do for the Côte d’Azur. The reports of cinema’s death have been greatly exaggerated.Īfter Cannes was canceled in 2020, the festival set out to be the savior of cinema by returning big movies to the big screen. The Grand Prix - the festival’s second prize - was jointly awarded to Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” and Juho Kusomanen’s “Compartment No.6.” It divided critics with vocal supporters and detractors, but the jury of Lee, fellow directors Mati Diop, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Jessica Hausner, actors Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Tahar Rahim and Song Kang-ho and singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer saw fit to award it top honors. “Titane” tells the story of a young woman who survives a car crash as a child and goes on to have a peculiar relationship with cars in adulthood. “Raw” director Ducournau returned to Cannes with her second film, her first in competition. The awkward atmosphere did not dissipate, however, with the typically garrulous Lee noticeably bashful. Gasps rang around the Grand Theatre Lumiere before the ceremony collected itself and reverted to the normal running order. In a shock moment, jury president Spike Lee announced the win in error early in the awards ceremony after a miscommunication.
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