Cannes Diary #1: Adam Driver singing, journalists spitting, and other minor inconveniences

TFE is thrilled to have a correspondent on the ground in Cannes this year. Please welcome back Elisa Giudici.

by Elisa Guidici

It's my first day of my first year as a press pass holder at Cannes Film Festival. Let me tell you that as an Italian, I am so proud of how Venice Mostra handled their Covid-19 edition last season. Cannes had an extra year to plan how to be efficient, safe and as Covid-free as possible. How did the organisation spent these months?.The ticketing system to avoid long queues before screenings? A hot mess. The website? Almost always down. Covid tests? Bizzarre, but at least free for pass holders...

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Cannes Review: The unsteady but miraculous "Annette"

by Cláudio Alves

It all starts in the recording studio, as Leos Carax and his daughter - to whom this achingly personal film is dedicated - observe the Sparks working their magic. The reference to supernatural powers when writing on artistic marvel is overused, but it does seem fitting for Annette. Here, performance can invoke a new reality, singing it into existence. That's what the film's team does in this metatextual prologue. As the Sparks exit the recording booth, the camera and the Carax duo follow, with the movie stars joining along for good measure. As they ask "May We Start," they also admonish the audience, heed them, warn them, and set the stage for what's to come. Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard depart in separate vehicles at the end of the song, no longer themselves. The ritual of performance has begun – they're now Henry and Ann…

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Cannes at Home: Day 1

by Cláudio Alves

Every year, we cinephiles not lucky enough to be in Cannes at the time of the festival, mope around for two weeks, checking on critics' coverage, drowning in FOMO. Well, at least that's what I do. Not so this year. From now until the Closing Ceremony, let's check out past works from the cineastes presenting features at this year's festival. We might also take a look at some of the older flicks getting a new day in the sun thanks to such sections as Cannes Classics and Cinema à la Plage. Only films available to watch from home will be considered, of course. 

With all that out of the way, let's dive in and explore the cinematic gems on this first day of our housebound international film festival…

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Driver and Cotillard SING!

by Eric Blume

In other surprising/weird/interesting film projects ahead for us in 2020, filming just wrapped on Annette, a musical featuring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, and directed by French auteur Leos Carax. Apparently Driver plays a stand-up comedian and Cotillard an opera singer, whose lives take a twist with the birth of their daughter Annette, who is born with a "special gift".

The movie sounds gloriously bananas.  Is it in French or English, or both?  Leos Carax is, without hyperbole, one of the most idiosyncratic directors alive.  It's almost thirty years ago that he had Juliette Binoche waterskiing down the Seine in Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, and eight years ago that he mystified everyone with the accordions and role play of Holy Motors.  The man does not have a commercial bone in his body.

We know from Marriage Story that Driver can carry a tune. It's thrilling that at essentially the most pivotal time in his career, he's chosen to take a left turn with a movie like this.  And it's been far too long since Cotillard has had a great role.  She's utterly magnificent in Nine (not sorry, haters), and her two numbers in that film demonstrate her ability to both keep it simple / honest AND to fly into full-blown performance mode.  But...she's playing an opera singer?  Sounds iffy.   Still, Driver and Cotillard are two of the greatest actors working today, and matching them sounds wonderfully inspired.

This movie on paper truly earns the letters WTF.  Even if it doesn't land, it should at least be interesting!

Good News for 'Annette' (not Bening)!

by Spencer Coile

I didn't mean to spook you all with that title-- I know many of us are still mourning La Bening's Oscar snub for 20th Century Women. But I come to you with good film tidings. 

For those of you musical lovers out there looking to get a new fix, look no further. Holy Motors director Leos Carax is coming back in 2018 with his new film, a musical no less, titled Annette. And it gets even better...

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