Worst Films
“Rodin”
Jacques Doillon‘s biopic about the legendary sculptor of “The Gates Of Hell” was always perceived with a raised eyebrow, but no one expected the plodding, excruciatingly simplified and laughably earnest exercise in dullness that “Rodin” turned out to be. Putting aside everything that made Augustine Rodin a fascinating artist, and instead choosing to focus on his lust of women and self-absorbed insecurities, Doillon directs Vincent Lindon‘s heaving wheeze with the sensibilities of a daytime soap. The dialogue, its exposition resulting in equal measure of blunt-force trauma and mockery, slowly drowns you until you realize that the real gate of hell in this film is actually the exit that you so desperately want to escape through. — Nikola Grozdanovic
“Radiance”
Painfully reminding us that Naomi Kawase is a film director who seems to only interest Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux, “Radiance” suffocates you with its molasses-like pacing, ersatz poetics and vacuous characters until all that’s left is the frustration of wasting two precious hours. The central performances are as good as they could be, but in a film about a blind photographer connecting with a woman who works as an audio-descriptor of movies, Kawase fills up most of screen time with solemn gazing and inert action as profundities about human relations are pontificated and exhausted. The director’s strengths are clearly more aligned when she’s dealing with man’s relationship to nature. In the case of “Radiance,” though, you almost start to envy the deaf and blind. — Nikola Grozdanovic
“Based On A True Story” [our review]
One of the last films screened at Cannes also ended up being one of the very worst. Roman Polanski, known for daring flair and absorbing storytelling in tight spaces, managed to bungle a project that was brimming with promise: a film about a warped identity crisis that turns into a cabin thriller, written by Olivier Assayas and starring Eva Green in one of her juiciest roles, had all the makings of a fun ride. But things get derailed thanks to Emmanuelle Seigner‘s anemic central performance, trashy effects and a remarkably ridiculous third act that, in its final phase, simply gives up on the whole premise and dies a sudden, ineffective death. Mired in senseless ambiguity and directorial hubris, “Based On A True Story” can only satisfy Eva Green fans because everything else in it deserves a frantic rolling-pin beatdown. — Nikola Grozdanovic
Trends
Problematic Parenting (especially of 12-year-old children)
It was Telegraph critic Robbie Collin who identified five competition films in which bad things happen to, and/or because of, a 12-year-old child: Michael Haneke‘s “Happy End,” Todd Haynes‘ “Wonderstruck,” Bong Joon-Ho‘s “Okja,” Ruben Östlund‘s “The Square,” and Andrey Zvyagintsev‘s “Loveless.” But even without that coincidence, Cannes 2017 offered an unmistakably critical view of the parent/child relationship, with even its softest and fuzziest entries, like “Okja” and “Wonderstruck,” in some way marked by parental failure, neglect or even deceit. And to that roster we can also add the 14-year-old Nina in Lynne Ramsay‘s “You Were Never Really Here,” and Sean Baker‘s Directors’ Fortnight title “The Florida Project,” which, though unusual in giving us an essentially loving mother/daughter relationship, does not skimp on also portraying its poverty-induced dysfunction. A couple of strong Critics’ Weeks titles add further weight to the trend: Léa Mysius‘ debut “Ava” follows a young girl about to go blind who rejects her mother and embraces criminality and sexuality, and Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia‘s “Sicilian Ghost Story” has the sins of the father literally visited on the son when puppy love is thwarted because of one family’s involvement with the Camorra (Sicilian mafia). Cannes was not a good place to be a kid in 2017. — Jessica Kiang
The Netflix argument no one could win
The controversy over the streaming service having two films in competition was a never-ending drama the 70th edition of the festival simply did not need. From Pedro Almodóvar’s statement at the beginning of the festival that he could not vote for any film not releasing in theaters and Will Smith’s awkward rebuttal (Smith stars in the highest-budgeted Netflix original film to date this December), to the final competition press conference for “You Were Never Really Here,” an Amazon Studios release actually hitting cinemas before the streaming service, it seemed like every time talent got in front of a microphone, they were being asked about it. Granted, it’s a touchy issue for France as a whole, and the fact the festival announced they will not consider a film without a theatrical release beginning next year only inflamed the situation. Netflix topper Ted Sarandos was clearly not thrilled about the reception, publicly saying he’d have to reconsider submitting their films in the future (a stance his filmmakers will not be happy with). The bigger problem was that when anyone was asked about whether the service’s films belonged at Cannes (and it was most painful for the stars of their own films), they could not give an answer that didn’t circle back to theatrical distribution in some way. The long and short of it is that Netflix is on a mission to change how the industry thinks about what a true “film” is, and it’s clear from the reception on la Croisette that it’s going to take much longer than they anticipated. — Gregory Ellwood
Hollywood skips out on historic fest
There was some grumbling from the media at the beginning of the festival about the lack of big Hollywood releases screening either in competition or, as has become something of a trend in the last decade, out of competition. This was exacerbated, of course, by the fact that it was the 70th edition of the festival. There were even some exaggerated reports from respected outlets that Hollywood had given up on Cannes. Newsflash: that’s simply not the case. Yes, it was bad optics all around, but this wasn’t a conspiracy, but instead cyclical, as there were very few studio productions that could have screened at Cannes. Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” was one, in theory, but it reportedly was not finished by the time the festival began (there’s also the part about how Nolan is a bit of a control freak and would be concerned how critics would handle one of his films on la Croisette). Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit” is arriving in August, but it would be very hard to imagine Annapurna’s brand-new marketing and publicity team wanting to have a Cannes premiere as their first major endeavor (Bigelow being the Hollywood representation in this case). “Alien: Covenant”? Well, now that you’ve seen it, you see why it didn’t happen. And with no Pixar or DreamWorks Animation movie releasing over the next few months, it was simply bad timing for the prestige animation houses. The hot take that Hollywood now thinks debuting or screening their movies at Cannes hurts them is, frankly, silly. One ‘BFG‘ mistake doesn’t overshadow recent successes such as “Inside Out,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Great Gatsby” or “How To Train Your Dragon 2.” Cannes is a major PR opportunity for Hollywood releases hitting Europe. Trust that they’ll be back. — Gregory Ellwood
Security Issues
The past few editions of the Cannes Film Festival have seen added layers of security, first by the addition of extra barriers to funnel spectators into the cinemas in 2015. Last year a ‘bubble’ was formed around the Lumière, with bag checks and security wands being applied before anyone stepped foot onto the red carpet. However, the steady clip of terrorist incidents in France and elsewhere meant the festival had to step up its game once more, resulting in the implementation of metal detectors at every entrance into the Palais des Festivals. This new wrinkle—reminiscent of even-more-stringent airport standards—caused chaos right from the first screening when a press line for “Ismael’s Ghosts” became entangled with the unwieldy queue of festival guests retrieving their badges. Then the morning’s screening of “Wonderstruck” was substantially delayed as hordes of people were still queuing outside a half-empty Lumière at its advertised kick-off time, and Michel Hazanvicius‘ “Redoubtable” press showing had to be pushed back because of a suspect bag.
There was also the matter of a heightened police presence, most unnervingly in the snipers occasionally visible on surrounding rooftops. For attendees from countries like the United States or (as is this case with myself) Canada, the omnipresence of cops and soldiers outfitted with assault weapons was surreal. In one memorable instance, an elderly woman stumbled and fell in the street, only to have two rifle-armed officers come to her aid, which must have been an experience more terrifying than comforting. I can attest to the random bag checks in the street as well, having been the subject of one en route to a projection. But as it usually does, Cannes found its own rhythm and festival organizers were ultimately able to implement the additional security processes without delaying screenings, even before the grumbles about the wait times and security cordons were silenced in the most definitive and tragic way possible when news of the Manchester attack made it to the Croisette. — Bradley Warren
A Jury with a Lot to Say
You don’t sign up to be part of a Cannes jury without expecting to endure the harsh glare of the media spotlight, but this year’s ensemble ended up being more outspoken than expected. There was jury president Pedro Almodóvar and Will Smith’s dueling statements on the sanctity of Netflix films as theatrical films at the beginning of the festival, but it was the ladies who ended it all with a bang. Jessica Chastain’s remarks at the closing press conference were a stinging indictment on the films in Competition as she said she was “disgusted” by their portrayal of women. And that was taking into account competition films such as Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” and “Into The Fade” with Diane Kruger. Fellow jury members Maren Ade, Agnès Jaoui and Fan Bingbing also voiced their displeasure. And it didn’t stop there. Will Smith was so disappointed in the lack of African or African-American actors and filmmakers that he revealed both he and fellow jury member Park Chan-wook had discussed setting up a coalition to advocate films with People of Color to Cannes’ powerbrokers, Thierry Frémaux and Pierre Lescure. To say these public comments must have given Frémaux and Lescure pause is something of an understatement. — Gregory Ellwood
Once again, we wonder why certain films were not in competition that should have been
It’s par the course at Cannes — and any festival to be honest — but there was some head-scratching over why three critically acclaimed Director’s Fortnight titles were not included in the official competition. Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project” was one of the most well-reviewed films of the entire festival, Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In” was certainly better received than her countryman’s Jacques Doillon’s “Rodin” and Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” which took the section’s top prize, would have been a worthy entry. Additionally, many wondered why Agnès Varda’s lauded “Faces Places” screened Out Of Competition as well. And, moreover, the fact that three of these four films were directed by women and didn’t make the Competition cut should absolutely have generated more media criticism than it has so far. — Gregory Ellwood
You can catch up with any Cannes 2017 coverage you might have missed at this link.
