Cannes Review: Palme d'Or winner "Anatomy of a Fall"

Elisa Giuidici reporting from Cannes...

I can name a very short list of actresses who can portray a silver screen character with the level of charisma and ego as Cate Blanchett in the already iconic role of Lydia Tár. That short list has now grown by one. The amazingly talented Sandra Hüller, best known for Toni Erdmann, does not lack for “big dick energy”. After seeing her from a strange distance in The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, we can fully grasp her icy, domineering attitude in the wonderful Anatomy of a Fall. It's a legal thriller by French director Justine Triet (who also co-wrote the screenplay with her partner Arthur Harari).

The movie is another take on the classic procedural dilemma: did a person die by accident or were they killed by their partner?

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Cannes Finale Pt 1 (Personal Choices / Predictions)

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

Benoit Magimet & Juliette Binoche star in "La Passion de Dodin Bouffant"

Another edition of the Cannes Film Festival is close to the finish line. It's time for some 'for your considerations', some praise for my favourites, and the impossible task of predicting the Palme d'Or winner. Predictions which will quickly be outdated by the actual winners at the closing ceremony. 

How was this Cannes Film Festival overall? I managed to see all of the Competition titles (a couple more reviews coming), a large chunk of Out of Competition titles and a couple each from Quinzaine and Un Certain Regard. The general impression is that this Cannes edition lacks a masterpiece that everyone agrees upon. This absence is perceived only in these final hours, when we're all trying to guess the big winner. But the competition did feature a large group of excellent movies. There was only one terrible movie (sorry Sean Penn, but Black Flies in competition was a bad joke)...

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Cannes: "May December" with Julianne Moore & Natalie Portman

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

Todd Haynes new feature May December could easily be my favorite movie of this Cannes edition, but it took me two screenings to realize it. May December's most striking trait is its elusiveness. Like its protagonist Gracie (Julianne Moore), it's unapologetic. It's also candid in its campiness but able to turn into a savage experience in its rare moments of truth. I heard someone describethis one as it as Haynes’ Brian De Palma homage. I think it's closer to Paul Verhoeven and his way of never explaining himself, leaving you wondering “Is this intentionally parodical…or is it not?”.

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Cannes: Two strong contenders for the Palme d'Or

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

THE ZONE OF INTEREST

If the Palme d'Or goes to a movie that pushes the boundaries of cinema as artistic expression, director Jonathan Glazer will have virtually zero competition. It is quite a rare moment in which, as a spectator, you realize that you are witnessing a true cinematic original. Making a movie about the Holocaust that feels groundbreaking is especially challenging given the plethora of films that have addressed and educated the world on the harrowing topic. 

In Glazer's adaptation of Martin Amid’s The Zone of Interest, not a single actor's face is shown in close-up for more than a couple of seconds...

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Cannes: Scorsese triumphs again with "Killers of the Flower Moon"

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

Leonardo DiCaprio & Lily Gladstone in "Killers of the Flower Moon"

Dear Martin Scorsese, why did you shy away from the main competition for the Palm d’Or? Needless to say, someone with your career and pedigree has almost nothing to lose even when pitted against younger, eager colleagues at a festival. And Killers of the Flower Moon is exactly the kind of movie that is sure to impress. First of all, it is carried with the energy and politics you would expect from someone younger than Scorsese. His trademark intensity is present again. He's ardent to share the forgotten history of how a group of white men in the 1920s orchestrated a slow genocide of the Osage tribe -- at attempt to eradicate them from a land filled with oil. It is not a war but a vicious scheme because the Osage tribe was given the land before its real value was discovered.

As a result, the young USA decides to play nice with the native people, at first, making them immensely wealthy...

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