It is the fourth day of Cannes Film Festival and we are approaching the middle of the festival. As for the festival itself, there is a great emphasis each day on health protocols. So far, only three people with Covid-19 have been detected and asked to quarantine. But the atmosphere is positive and attendees are eagerly participating in the festival. In addition, the weather is pleasant, despite the heat.
However, we have not yet seen a masterpiece emerge. Some consider Benedetta to be the main contender this year. French critics, especially, have touted The Divide as award worthy. But because much of the comedy of The Divide relies on a close familiarity with the French language, many English-speaking critics have considered it to be among the worst films of the festival. In any case, no clear consensus has emerged as of yet. I managed to watch three films on the fourth day. The films were Flag Day, Night of Fire, and Compartment Number 6.
Flag Day
One of the most notable films of day four was Sean Penn’s Flag Day, which was screened as a new directorial experience in the main section of the Cannes Film Festival. Flag Day is structurally and narratively a film that owes much to the classic Hollywood cinema. The story follows the relationship between a girl and her father. The key theme is how a young woman’s character develops in the absence or presence of her father over the years. The film involves a girl’s dream about her father and the question of the relation between this dream and reality. Through this film, Sean Penn deals with the crisis of masculinity. We do not encounter here the usual powerful father figure we see so often in Hollywood films. Instead, we see a fragile father who cannot fulfil his daughter’s wishes. He is ambitious, but not always able to achieve him desire. Penn has done a treasurable task of illustrating the father’s fragility across many years, from the time his daughter was a child until she becomes a well-known journalist. What makes the film work are the intimate moments between father and daughter where the father’s fragility clash with the daughter’s hopes and aspirations.
Prayers for the Stolen / Noche de Fuego
Night of Fire, also known as Prayers for the Stolen, is another Mexican film aired on the fourth day of the Cannes Film Festival. A film about a mother who loses her daughter following a kidnapping and faces the kidnappers’ ransom. The film presents the audience with a portrait of Mexican society and the influence and role of the drug cartels in it, as well as the fear and horror that so many Mexicans face because of the cartels. We learn that the government is powerless in the face of these cartels, which have taken control of so many peoples’ lives. In the face of this situation, the mother should only rely on herself. A bitter oath in the current state of Mexican society is shown in this film. The film has a compelling narrative, particularly when it comes to the story of the kidnapping and its aftermath. The director very effectively coneys the pain and suffering of the mother. This is done in large part through a camera that shows the mothers condition by following her closely through her travails. However, some parts of the story felt contrived to advance the story. This was especially true in the final parts of the film, when the story seemed to unravel somewhat.
Compartment No. 6
Compartment No. 6 is a film from Finnish cinema that was screened in the main section of the Cannes Film Festival. This is a road trip story that follows a girl travelling with a Russian man. It is reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s trilogy Before; Two strangers get to know each other in an urban space and go further during the journey. Lack of familiarity turns into an emotional relationship during the trip. This film takes the viewer to about 2000 in Russia and immerses the viewer in the characters’ background and love affairs. This is a film that creates fascinating moments with powerful acting. Especially because it takes place in a two-person space, it relies on the acting of the two actors, who both do a mesmerizing performance. Paradoxically, the characters in this movie are both typical and special.