As the Cannes film festival enters its second week, the dark circles around the festival’s attendant eyes are becoming more visible and their excitement is overcoming the fatigue. The weekend in fact didn’t bring only a lot of partying on the French riviera, but also two very awaited movies which lived up to the expectations: Triangle of Sadness by the always provocative and irreverent Ruben Östlund, winner of the Palm d’Or in 2017, and Holy Spider, the third feature by Iran-born Danish director Ali Abbassi. The overall trepidation of public and critique found further fuel in Monday’s premieres: the special screening Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind, the first documentary by Ethan Coen (and his first film made without his brother as a co-director); the autobiographical Les Annèes Super 8 by Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot, showed in the section Director’s Fortnight, and the two movies in competition: Heojil Kyolishim (Decision to leave) by Park Chan-Wook and Crimes of the Future by David Cronenberg. Few words on each.
This one-hour Jerry Lee Lewis portrait shows the ups and downs of “a man, that doesn’t play Rock’n’Roll, but he is himself” as Bruce Springsteen argued. Based on extensive archival material edited with wisdom by Tricia Cooke, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind is not only the first documentary film of Ethan Coen but also the first movie without his brother with whom he had already presented many films in Canne’s competition over the last decades. In a sort of chronological order, Jerry Lee Lewis explains himself to the public in the many interviews given over the years. Other people’s opinion is rarely presented in the film, except for one of his daughters and one of his ex-wives. This way, the gossipy or sanitary tone that often affects biographical narrations is avoided. This is, probably, the actual strength of this documentary: it shows Jerry Lee Lewis’s contradictions as natural. His incredible verve on the stage as well as his addictions took him periodically away from the spotlight, the devotion to his public but also his not caring about the media’s opinion regarding his marriage with his 12 years old cousin, the master of Rock’n’Roll who goes back to his country routes. All this is Jerry Lee Lewis.
Another movie that premiered today in Cannes and relied completely on archival material, this time private, is Les Annèes Super 8 by Annie Ernaux and her son David Ernaux-Briot. An intimate stream of consciousness, in voiceover, accompanies the most intimate images of the Ernaux’s family. Images of holidays in exotic places like Russia and Morocco, happy moments during Christmas festivities and birthdays, as well as family reunions and house tours subsume each other. These images, which any cineamateur must have filmed at least once in their life, deliver a private but at the same time universal portrait of a whole era. Themes like the rising of mass consumption, globalization, and ecologism can be traced among the postcard-like landscapes or flowers. Once again, Ernaux, one of the most beloved and successful female writers in France, as the shower of applause welcoming her in the overcrowded Theatre de La Croisette proves, shows great sensitivity to social changes.
Heojil Kyolshim (Decision to leave)
When entering the screening of the latest movie by South Korean director Park Chan-Wook, many spectators feared the violence shown in his previous films. However, differently from the Vengeance Trilogy, Decision to Leave proceeds along subtle and hidden traces to feed the viewer’s curiosity and the protagonist’s obsession for each other. Detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il) is committed to finding out the real cause of the death of a climber who fell down a cliff. His intention though is hindered by the victim’s fascinating wife Seo-rae (Tang Wei). Whether consciously or not, she unsettles Hae-joon and makes his few certainties crumble. While the twisted plot may leave some questions unanswered, Park Chan-Wook majestic direction overcomes even the most pragmatic viewers, which at some point might feel in a very similar position to those of the detective, of uncertainty and confusion. The breathtaking natural scenarios, as well as the music by Cho Young-wuk do the rest.
There can be many reasons why Crimes of the Future was one of the most awaited movies of the festival, with more people than usual waiting for last-minute tickets the night of the premiere and a long-standing ovation after it. Maybe because of the extraordinary cast made of Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, and Kristen Stewart? Or maybe because of the very actual theme of human adaptation to a hostile environment? Or maybe because David Cronenberg has been working on it since 1999 and it might even be his last movie? Nevertheless, the strong images of dissections and reassembling of bodies scared many spectators who abruptly left the Palais.
© 2022. UniversalCinema Mag.