JURY GRID CURRENT SUMMARY:Quote:
2.8 ARMAGEDDON TIME - James Gray
2.7 EO - Jerzy Skolomowski
2.5 TRIANGLE OF SADNESS - Ruben Östlund
2.5 R.M.N. - Christian Mungiu
2.3 BOY FROM HEAVEN - Tarik Saleh
2.2 TCHAIKOVSKY'S WIFE - Kirill Serebrennikov
2.1 THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS - Felix Van Groeningen
2.1 BROTHER AND SISTER - Arnaud Desplechin
2.1 HOLY SPIDER - Ali Abassi
1.8 FOREVER YOUNG - Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
#4 ON THE JURY GRID NOW: CHRISTIAN MUNGIU'S R.M.N.
STILL FROM R.M.N.R.M.N. (Cristian Mungiu)Cannes, In Competition.(Shown May 21). Jessica Kiang on
Variety praises the ruthless clarity of this "scabrous social division drama," a delineation of the social fracturing of the nation of Romania. Jordan Mintzer in
Hollywood Reporter says "R.M.N" is Romanian for "MRI," and that fits because this is "a full-scale brain scan" of a country "beset by multiple conflicts" including the "racial, social, political, national, ecological," and even, here anyway, the "emotional variety." This is a "slow-burn, small-town drama" set in rural Transylvania. This is, Mintzer says, typically "masterly understated filmmaking" notable for "a few stand-out sequences," especially a full-reel one in the town hall that "throws all the issues on the table" before "erupting into chaos." Mungiu won the Palme d'Or with his 2007 abortion film, and his
GRADUATION (NYFF 2016) won him Best Director here. At #4 in the current
Screen Daily Jury Grid, R.M.N. is a must-see to watch for. But maybe too slow in spots, says Mintzer. And
Bradshaw is less charmed, rating it a neutral 3/5 stars. He points out it's about prejudice against local Sri Lankans, and Mungiu's style "as unemphatic and low-key as ever."
MAY 23, CANNES DAY 7 COMPETITION PREMIERES: DECISION TO LEAVE, CRIMES OF THE FUTURE, AND TORI AND LOKITA.
PARK HAE-IL AND TANG WEI IN DECISION TO LEAVEDECISION TO LEAVE (Park Chan-wook)Cannes. In Competition. It's Peter Bradshaw's second Cannes 2022 5/5 stars film, which "keeps the viewer off balance at every turn," he says in his rave
Guardian review. Park rocked Cannes with his lurid revenge drama OLDBOY in 2004 (I can even remember reading Anthony Lane's
New Yorker review before seeing it). His last feature was
HANDMAIDEN (2016), which I waited in line to see in Paris. There was a SNOWPIERCER TV series 2020-2022. DECISION TO LEAVE begins with a police investigation of a death in the mountains. But this one is a "police procedural romance." Bradshaw notes the "deliciously manipulative plot twists," but also "tension and intrigue," "grandstanding emotional confrontations," and (not least) "ingenious use of mobile phone technology" which often messes up modern day thrillers. The Chinese star Tang Wei (of Ang Lee's LUST, CAUTION) is "magnificent" as a murder suspect unconcerned over her husband's death, whom the married, insomniac police detective (Park Hae-il) gradually falls in love with. David Rooney's
Hollywood Reporter review mentions Douglas Sirk, Hitchcock, and Almodóvar as sources or parallels. Rooney compliment's Park's later-stage career simultaneous mastery of complex plot, rich characters, and set designs as ingenious as they are aesthetically pleasing. David Erlich in
IndieWire calls this "the most romantic movie of the year." The
Variety review notes the "wildly satisfying ending" to this "scintillating work of genre art." This clearly looks like one of this year's most admired and enjoyed Competition films (it will go to the top of the Jury Grid).
DECISION TO LEAVE TRAILER (You can set English subs.)
THE MUCH AWAITED CRONENBERG PREMIERE (MAY 23, CANNES DAY 7)
VIGGO MORTENSEN, LEA SEYDOUX IN CRIMES OF THE FUTURE CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (David Cronenberg)Cannes. In Competition. Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart, and Léa Seydoux star in a return to body horror set in the near future where some humans have accepted acceleration evolution, and others try to police it. Written 20 years ago, and unchanged, the 79-year-old director's first film in 8 years. Release in theaters June 3.
Peter Bradshaw awards the film 4/5 stars and says that "as he did with 90s hit CRASH, the director creates a bizarre new society of sicko sybarites where pain is the ultimate pleasure and 'surgery is the new sex'." People perform or observe surgery for kicks. Viggo's lead character specializes in being operated on to have things taken out or put in, and Léa is his partner and live celebrity performance surgeon. Kristen is a peripheral inspector figure. The script is a bit "undercooked" and everything doesn't really come together at the end, says David Rooney in
Hollywood Reporter. It "could do with a scalpel" says Jordan Farley of
Total Film. But Cronenberg has his own unique metaphorical take on the horror movie, says the
Variety review. "None of it makes a lick of sense," says
AV Club's Jordan Hoffman, "but there's a surreal flow...that carries you from scene to scene." Not particularly geared for a pandemic world; but why should it have to be? "it’s an extraordinary planet that Cronenberg lands us down on," concludes Bradshaw, "and insists we remove our helmets before we’re quite sure we can breathe the air." The
Metascore at present is a so-so 72%. We'll see where the Jury Grid places it.
CRIMES OF THE FUTURE TRAILERCANNES DAY 8 (MAY 24): THE DARDENNE BROTHERS IN FINE FORM
TORI AND LOKITA (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne)Cannes. In Competition. Story of a young boy and an adolescent girl who have emigrated from Africa to Belgium, and must face up to the challenges of their exile.
Variety says the Dardennes are "back on form" and the film is a tale of "wily immigrant kids scrambling for survival" that is "a parable of the age of economic injustice." Jonathan Romney in
Screen Daily says this is "at the very least" "their finest since 2011's
THE KID WITH THE BIKE, and arguably one of their very best." In a story that is evidently typically well-researched for authenticity, the two youths are forced into desperate measures, including pretending to be siblings and drug dealing, to survive as they struggle to establish residency in the Dardennes' usual locales in Solvaing and around Liège.
Bradshaw, who awards only a neutral 3/5 stars, thinks this a continued falling off of the brothers' work, noting some crude narrative devices, and says "there are sometimes issues with basic plot naivety and plausibility," marring the artistry and detracting from the good research. (It will wind up midway on the Jury Grid, at 2.5 along with TRIANGLE OF SADNESS AND R.M.N.)
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