Cannes 2021 selections; notes

[Chris Knipp]

THE "MASTER" AT WORK: BENEDETTA

CHECKLIST OF CANNES 2021 COMPETITION FILMS.

My personal viewer's comments on those of these that I've caught up with:

Ahed's Knee/הַבֶּרֶךְ‎‎ (Habereḵ) (Nadav Lapid) Israel, France - I got something good out of this because it didn't seem that strong, which led me to go back and rewatch Lapid's memorable, oddball Synonyms, and looking up what else the star Tom Mercier has been in, I discovered the Luca Guadagnino HBO series "We Are Who We Are," and I loved it! (Ahed's Knee wasn't as angry as I was expecting it to be.)

Annette (opening film) (Leos Carax) France, Germany, Belgium

Benedetta (QP)/Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven) France, Netherlands. Variety puts it this way: "not a groundbreaking film, but just another entry in the tawdry nunsploitation genre." Huppert had the power to lift Elle into something better; Efira hasn't her level of authority.

Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve) Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico - This seemed a complete bore to me; I just don't get it. And I saw it in the big screen. And I have liked her other films very much. Is it a case of the damage done by transplanting from the filmmaker's native country?

Casablanca Beats/Haut et fort (Nabil Ayouch) Morocco, France

Compartment No. 6 (QP)/Hytti nro 6 (Juho Kuosmanen) Russia, Finland - Loved this film and have watched it twice. Partakes of the romance of the long train trip without being a romance at all, really. And so it is fresh and memorable.

The Divide (QP)/La Fracture (Catherine Corsini) France

Drive My Car/ドライブ・マイ・カー (Doraibu mai kā) (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) Japan - Another one that I finally just don't quite get; where his other film this year is very accessible.

Everything Went Fine/Tout s'est bien passé (François Ozon) France

Flag Day (Sean Penn) United States

France Par un demi clair matin (Bruno Dumont) France, Italy, Germany, Belgium - Missed this title because I thought it was just called "France." This is a laborious film and shows Léa Seydoux at her most industrious. Dumont really does not know how to make this kind of genre of social commentary and satire. Only the sets and costumes stand out.

The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson) United States - A friend says this is one of the Wes films he doesn't respond to. I liked it very much, went out of my way to see it early, and have seen it twice. Wes' films are so complicated and self-referential you can, you actually need to, watch them over and over. Unless you hate them or don't get them.

A Hero/قهرمان (Ghahreman) (Asghar Farhadi) Iran - I like it and have reviewed it, but now it is ovdershadowed in my mind by Rasoulof's A Man of Integrity (overlapping titles?). The earnest moral social commentary film is something both Iranian filmmakers do very well but it's a little hard to tell the two directors apart by now.

Lingui (Mahamat Saleh Haroun) Belgium, Chad, France, Germany

Memoria (Apiichatpong Weeresethekul) Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, United Kingdom - This is a beautiful film and I would like to see it again, but it cries out for the big screen. Be prepared for a meandering tale. You could say (as others have) that this is the most accessible "Joe" film yet.

Nitram (Justin Kurzel) Australia, United Kingdom - Watched this at home and was depressed the whole rest of the day. It's neutrality is impressive and Caleb Landry Jones is memorable (as you'd expect since he won the Best Actor award). But do you really have to make this grim kind of film?

Paris, 13th District/Les Olympiades (Jacques Audiard) France - A bit of a disappointment coming from Jacques Audiard, who was the most exciting younger French director 15 years ago, but still enjoyable, even if you feel Audiard is trying a little hard to be young and multicultural now.

Petrov's Flu/Петровы в гриппе (Petrоvy v grippe) (Kirill Serebrennikov) France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland

Red Rocket (Sean Baker) United States

The Restless/Les Intranquilles (Joachim Lafosse) Belgium, France

The Story of My Wife/A feleségem története (Ildikó Enyedi) Hungary, France, Germany, Italy

Three Floors/Tre piani (Nanni Moretti) Italy, France

Titane (QP) (Julia Ducournau) Belgium, France - Exactly as I expected, loud, glitzy, audacious, offensive, colorful, and, of course, with Vincent Lindon costarring in it, weirdly touching and human; and it's better than Raw, but I still don't like Ducournau, and she still knows how to provoke.

The Worst Person in the World/Verdens verste menneske (Joachim Trier) Norway, Sweden, France - Trier is a director I love and this was not a disappointment, a film full of life and full of understanding and indulgence toward its young female protagonist; that's what's new: it's not a boy movie now but a girl movie.
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(QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.xx