with the projection of The Old Oak, whose title refers to a pub in a town in northern England, but which fits perfectly with its director, the British Ken Loach, the 21 films competing for the Palme d’Or have already been seen this year year, which is awarded today Saturday. and our compatriot Damiano Szifronmember of the Jury, will not have an easy life.
Not because there are many films that a priori seem worthy of winning La Palma, but because although everyone assures that the level has risen compared to last year, there isn’t a title in this edition that has been exceptional.
Moreover, The criminalsby Rodrigo Moreno, did not win any prize in the section where it was in competition, Un Certain Regard, where it won How to have sexby the British Molly Manning Walker, who arrived after the announcement of the award, directly from the airport, while the President of the Jury, the actor John C. Reilly, entertained those present… singing.
There are two that appear to be headed for the grand prizes. One is Fallen leaves, with tango by Gardel and Lepera included, by the Finnish Aki Kaurismäki, a regular at the Festival but who has never won on La Palma. With its unmistakable surreal style, 1950s set design, brightly colored costumes, use of shadows and replicated acting and dialogue, this romantic story will not be the director’s best. Le Havrebut he could very well win.
The other is the most radical of the 21 that the Jury presided over by the Swedish Ruben Östlund, winner of La Palma last year with The triangle of sadness -I had already won another one, though the square-. Regard The area of interest, by the English Jonathan Glazer. A Nazi commander lives with his family in a small villa attached – literally – to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp. And there he raised his children.
No consensus film
Although there is no consensus on the film, the youth that prevails among the members of the Jury risks playing against veterans such as Nanni Moretti, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Wim Wenders or Marco Bellocchio, the first three, already winners. Maybe not so much for Ken Loach, which in The Old Oak it deals with the immigration of Syrian refugees to England, with the skill we are used to, and it doesn’t feel like an old-fashioned film.
But, and this is about me, I don’t see Östlund’s ego allowing him to give the director of a third Palme I, Daniel Blake and The Wind That Shakes the Lawn, with a young Cillian Murphy, and surpassing him in number of palm trees…
More Östlund-flavored may be the revulsive moments Club Zeroby Austrian Jessica Hausner, about high school students who are persuaded by a teacher (Maia Wasikowska) to eat less, without considering the consequences.
Taste Monsterby the Japanese Hirokazu Kore-eda, with twists on the same story, and attention with Stroke anatomyby local Justine Triet, on the trial of a woman after she fell from a balcony, killing her husband.
away from Hollywood
Difficult for La Palma to rumble for the United States, which has brought three films: City of Asteroidsby Wes Anderson may decemberby Todd Haynes, e Black fliesby Jean-Stephane Sauvaire. Perhaps yes, they reward the actresses of Haynes (Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore), but in the colossal cast of Anderson’s film there is not one character more protagonist than another. And it’s Sandra Hüeller, star of The area of interest AND Stroke anatomywhich has the edge… but would leave either film without another award.
And continuing with Hollywood, Sean Penn, as the New York paramedic Black… is another in a field, that of male acting, which does not have a favorite (¿Kôji Yakusho, the Japanese in the film by Wim Wenders, perfect days?).
Six of the twenty-one films were directed by women, setting a record at the Festival. Except for Anatomy… and Senegalese Banel and Adama, by Ramata-Toulaye Sy, it’s unclear whether the other four will win an award. And juries must not be sensitized or know that Catherine Breillat (L’été Dernier) became hemiplegic after a stroke and attended the premiere of her film with the help of a cane.
Anything can happen tonight on the Côte d’Azur, in the middle of the afternoon in Argentina. Without going any further, two years ago the Parisian Julia Ducournau, today in the Jury, incomprehensibly won La Palma with titan. In that year, in the midst of the pandemic, he spread his voice. The same one who now speaks more than The area of interest Kaurismäki’s…
Source: Clarin
