Every day, the hot spot live from the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
Film of the day: Emilia Perez
The return of Jacques Audiard to the Croisette was the event of the day in Cannes. Three years after leaving empty-handed with The Olympicsthe director ofA prophet returns to the competition with a film with an unusual pitch: the story of a Mexican drug trafficker who changes sex to change his life and finally become the woman he has always been deep inside. All in the form of a musical comedy, composed by the singer Camille and her companion, the arranger Clément Ducol.
The result is as disconcerting as its description. And sincerely delightful. Without a bad pun, Audiard mixes genres, between Annette And Sicario, and alternates moments of dancing, violence, tears and laughter while skilfully flirting with ridicule. Trans Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays Manitas del Monte/Emilia Perez, is the revelation of the film. And Zoe Saldana gives everything in this role in Spanish which reminds us that she should not be confined to Marvel films or motion capture.
Beyond the question of sex, Emilia Perez tells the story of an upheaval, of a reversal of values, of life choices which condition individual and collective existence. Against the backdrop of a Mexico undermined by corruption and gangs. A film of great richness and generosity, which awakens a competition that has until now been rather timid.
Our review ofEmilia Perez
The ghost of the day: Richard Gere in Oh, Canada
What has become of you, Richard? Just yesterday you were 30 years old. In 1980, you were Julian Kay in American Gigolo where like a hero from a Bret Easton Ellis novel, you showed off your muscular body and your Armani suits. 1980 – 2024. Time has passed. For us too. Paul Schrader takes you by the jacket today and puts you back in the center of the frame with his Oh, Canada. You are Leonard Fife, much less dashing than Julian Kay obviously. Leonard is a respected filmmaker who at the threshold of his life accepts filmed introspection. Schrader looks at himself a little through you. We see you in close-up, your face ravaged by terminal cancer. Makeup ad hoc. Paul Schrader sublimates you again but from the dark side. You walk through the frame in a wheelchair, urinate in a plastic bag and watch as Jacob Elordi impersonates you as a young person. The insolent one doesn't even look like you! You don't hesitate to take his place in the flashbacks. You can afford anything Richard. And even though we're witnessing your character's last breath, we know that it's all nonsense. With this Oh Canada you could even win a Cannes bid and finally see your skies open again. Oh, Richard, take your flight!
Video of the day: the return of Baby Annette
Leos Carax presented last night It's not me, a 40-minute poetic essay based on an exhibition project at the Center Pompidou which ultimately never took place. His friend Denis Lavant was there, but also Baby Annette, the puppet from his film in competition at Cannes in 2021, who made a surprise appearance captured by festival-goers.
Leos Carax, Denis Lavant and Baby Annette at the premiere of C'est pas mas #cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/BysS5h8BYL
— Sight and Sound magazine (@SightSoundmag) May 18, 2024
Interview of the day: Julian McMahon
Julian McMahon, star of Nip/Tuck And Charmedreturns to the big screen with the very funny The Surfer (out of competition), where he prevents Nicolas Cage from going to try the waves on “his” beach. Express meeting.
This is your first Cannes, what’s it like?
Coming here is bound to be at the top of every newbie actor's list. It just took me a few decades to get there (Laughter.) It’s bound to be dizzying.
You had disappeared from the radar screens for several years. Where have you been all this time?
But nowhere did I live! I wanted to take the time to raise my daughter and that was more important than my career. I chose to prioritize my family while still trying to find work during this time. And then this script came and I immediately had a very clear vision of the character.
An asshole, but super cool at the same time.
I wouldn't say “asshole”, because I don't know how to act asshole (Laughs.). In any case, I had him perfectly in mind: his facial hair, his hair, his way of speaking… But I didn't really understand his motivations before playing him on set.
What was it like filming with Nicolas Cage?
Amazing. We spent a lot of time testing things and throwing ideas back and forth about how we could play certain scenes. Nicolas arrives on set with incredible life force. He's a sincerely generous guy: we really work together, not each in his own corner as can sometimes happen.
Today in Cannes
The big film of the day in competition for the Palme is The Substancethe feminist body horror and only the second film by Coralie Fargeat (the fun and aptly named revenge in 2017) who walks in the bloody footsteps of Titanium. The Substance still remains super mysterious: a photo where a woman lies naked, a long scar running along her spine, doesn't indicate much… But we know that Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore are there, as is Dennis Quaid .
The press is preparing to Limonov, the balladnew film by Kirill Serebrennikov, in competition for the Palme for the fourth time: adaptation of the book by Emmanuel Carrère with Ben Whishaw in the title role, that of an almost mythological Russian novelist/adventurer/novelist/agitator.
We keep our eyes trained on the new animated film by Claude Barras (My life as a zucchini): Savagesan eco-friendly tale with two kids and a baby orangutan, but we'll also be watching The Story of Souleymane by Boris Lojkine (Camille with Nina Meurisse), micro odyssey of an undocumented migrant delivering meals by bike in Paris.
And, this evening, a big, very big show on the program: three hours ofHorizon – An American Sagathe first part of Kevin Costner's epic western saga, will finally be revealed to the public.
Cannes 2024: the complete guide to the 22 films in competition for the Palme d'Or