Cannes Film Festival 2023: Stars and Highlights
With its picturesque location on the French Riviera and its long history, Cannes remains Europe’s most prestigious film festival. This year’s edition, which opened on Tuesday night and runs through May 27, is the 76th – once again packed with high-profile attendance.
The festival opened with the film “Jeanne du Barry”, starring Johnny Depp as King Louis XV. In the film, the king falls in love with a young working-class woman and takes her as his last lover.
The female lead is played by French actress Maïwenn, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film.
Cannes is Depp’s first film appearance since the court case between him and his ex-wife Amber Heard. While some critics branded the film a “comeback” for Depp, others criticized the fact that it landed the coveted opening spot at Cannes.
“Jeanne du Barry” is showing out of competition at Cannes.
Last Indiana Jones adventure?
Other prominent films making their world premiere outside of competition for the Palme d’Or include the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise, “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Fate”. Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a Western crime drama revolving around murders on a Native American reservation in the 1920s, will also premiere.
Now 80 years old, Harrison Ford plunges into his latest adventure as archaeologist Henry Walton – aka Indiana Jones. The long-awaited film follows the legendary trilogy released between 1981 and 1989, and the 2008 film that divided critics but grossed over US$800 million (€734 million) at the global box office.
Scorsese, meanwhile, helms a star-studded cast in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the director’s sixth time working with Leonardo DiCaprio and the 10th time he has cast Robert De Niro. Also on board is recent Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, who took home the best actor award for his lead role in “The Whale” earlier this year.
Many Hollywood stars are appearing in competition films. Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore star in Todd Haynes’ romantic drama “May December,” and Scarlett Johansson appears in Wes Anderson’s sci-fi film “Asteroid City.” Also in the competition is German actress Sandra Hüller (“Toni Erdmann”), who stars in Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest.”
Of the 21 entries in competition, only six came from female directors. Still, it’s a new record for the number of female directors represented at Cannes.
Among them is French-Senegalese director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, competing with her debut film, “Banel & Adama”. The film features a cast of non-professional actors performing in Pulaar, a language spoken in the Senegalese river valley area where the film was shot.
Toilets in Tokyo
German director Wim Wenders has a film in competition at Cannes for the tenth time. The 1984 Cannes winner will present his film “Perfect Days”, which tells the story of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
Another work by Wenders, the 3D documentary “Anselm”, about the German painter Anselm Kiefer, will also have its world premiere at Cannes.
The film “Goodbye Julia” by director Mohamed Kordofani will be the first film from Sudan to premiere at Cannes. The film tells the story of Mona, who lives in northern Sudan and is plagued with guilt after covering up a murder. To alleviate her guilt, she takes in a South Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son Daniel.
The plot leads to the geopolitical conflict between North and South Sudan that is yet to come in the film. The film is part of the “A certain look” section, which presents films with innovative stories and styles.
This article was originally written in German.
Source: DW
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