IviDvo

I don't read the synopses in advance during the festival because I don’t want to know what the films are supposed to be about. I like the element of surprise. And this was definitely the biggest surprise of the main competition. A trans-cartel musical? Throughout the film I was wondering how on earth they thought to put this together, and in the end I have to say that as unexpected as it was, the final product is really a very unconventional and original combination that I'm careful to say really won't suit everyone. But I liked it, the film has a flow, the songs are melodic, the choreography is impressive. The story is unpredictable, at times very dramatic, at times funny and entertaining, at times touching to the point of pathetic... I think it has everything a musical should have. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Oh, Canada starts off very promisingly, with our last interview with Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), a famous documentary filmmaker who fled to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War. It's very important for him to have his wife present for the interview because he wants to share what he hasn't shared yet. And so he begins to tell his life story. What we gradually learn about him is actually not entirely flattering, and his wife doesn't like the new revelations either, so he blames it all on his medical condition and the side effects of his medication. What's true, what's fabricated, what's distorted, what does Fife himself remember differently than it really was? It's all done quite engagingly, with a great soundtrack and great actors, but gradually the pace somehow slows down, the ideas become more and more obscure, the questions mount, and suddenly it all fizzles out into a bland, unfinished ending... and I don't know what the poet was trying to say. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

The Apprentice offers a dispassionate look at the rise of Donald Trump and his transformation from a naive and bland underdog to an egotistical, spineless, narcissistic monster. Sebastian Stan, as Trump, is absolutely superb in his role, but perhaps even a hair better is Jeremy Strong as the lawyer Roy Cohn, to whom Donald objectively owes his rise, even though he is probably a stranger to the word "owed". Jeremy Strong was a great choice, this type of role suits him, as we could see already in Succession. The film is engaging and doesn't bore for a second, but I do have one huge complaint, and that is the choice of actress Maria Bakalova for the role of Ivana Zelníčková. I understand that we all sound the same to westerners from the east, and probably look the same... but I just found her Russian accent and appearance off-putting. And it was so confusing at times, I was like, wait a minute, is that supposed to be Ivana? Don't tell me it couldn't have been otherwise... [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Having parents as famous as Chiara Mastroianni has can't be easy for life. She herself has a successful career, but one day during filming, the director asks her if she could play a scene more like Marcello Mastroianni than Catherine Deneuve, which awakens an identity crisis in Chiara... Marcello mio is an entertaining comedy full of famous French actors playing themselves, or rather their alter egos. There is no shortage of humour or touching scenes that seemingly let you see into the souls of these actors when they are not in front of the camera... who are they and what should they be? [Festival de Cannes 2024]

I'm not a big expert on westerns, because I'm not really into this genre, but recently I've had the opportunity to see some interesting films that have made me gradually grow fond of the wild west theme. I'm glad that Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga is one of a very narratively and visually engaging film. And most importantly, you can feel and see how lovingly the director approaches the theme, and that he does everything as honestly and sensitively as he can. I think Horizon is his life project and he gives it his all (including his money and possessions). Of course, there is no shortage of great shootouts and nerve-wracking "who'll come out of this alive" scenes, but at the same time the film is full of unusual and simple scenes that bring the everyday life of the settlers to life. How, for example, people newly arrived in the wild west had to get used to the different mood, different routines, discomfort and danger that this inhospitable environment brings. This may seem boring or unnecessary to many, but I appreciate this aspect of the film because it is simply human. For me personally, it helped me to become even more immersed and empathetic to the stories of the mostly female protagonists, who are given a huge amount of space here, which again is very unusual and endearing, as up until now the classic western has been a predominantly male affair. The first part of Horizon sets up several plot lines, introduces a myriad of interesting characters that I assume will intertwine in the later parts, and I'm looking forward to that. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Touda is a bold, principled and above all very talented singer who longs for a better life for herself and her son. In a small town, she is confronted with meanness, rude behaviour, harassment and humiliation. She dreams of earning admiration and respect in a big city like Casablanca with her truly amazing voice, which makes the film's finale all the more impressive... because people are the same everywhere. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most distinctive directors of our time and his unconventional work entertains, shocks and divides into two camps. I'm a huge fan of his recent Poor Things and probably less of a fan of Kinds of Kindness. I really like the concept of three different stories with the same and excellent actors in different roles, but it lacks more coherence between them, and as a result it's just three more or less bizarre stories side by side. I'm not saying it’s bad, I think there's a lot of truth in the absurdity too, and some scenes are chilling in their realism, others are shocking in their rawness and cruelty, while there's a lot of humour, but as a whole it's kind of disjointed. The film is accompanied by the now very typical and recognisable soundtrack (if you can call it that) by Jerskin Fendrix, which adds to the bizarre and mysterious atmosphere. Despite the fact that I wasn't as impressed with this Lanthimos film as some of his previous ones, I will always look forward to his future work. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Holy Cow is in my opinion a very successful feature film debut of director Louise Courvoisier, which immerses us in the environment from which the director herself comes. It depicts the ordinary lives of young farmers, teenagers and the everyday worries they have to deal with, whether it's the daily grind, love troubles, hangovers or the loss of a loved one. A great thing in the the film for me is that the protagonists are real-life, hitherto non-actors, farmers, chicken and cow keepers, which adds a certain authenticity to the story. The most endearing thing about the film is how ordinary and real the story is. There is plenty of injustice and despair, but also truth, love and tenderness, so that the viewer is left with a warm feeling at the end of the film. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Megalopolis de Coppola nous emmène dans un New York « Nouvelle Rome » futuriste, décadent et au style antique. J’ai trouvé cette combinaison de culture ancienne (vêtements, noms, divertissements) avec une vision futuriste du monde très réussie. Tout comme le fait que l’ensemble du film soit ponctué de citations de penseurs anciens, qui ne font que souligner leur intemporalité dans la manière dont elles s’appliquent encore à aujourd’hui. Elles soulignent l’absurdité de certains aspects des temps modernes, en particulier le fait que nous soyons toujours les mêmes personnes (animaux) qu’à l’époque de la Rome antique ; nous jouons simplement à être une société civilisée et avancée. Cela est brillamment dépeint dans le film, mais c’est probablement la fin des points positifs de cette « méga-œuvre ». Je dois également mentionner que, bien que mon préféré parmi tous les acteurs du casting soit Adam Driver (qui est comme d’habitude excellent), les plus grands éloges devraient aller à Shia LaBeouf, qui montre une fois de plus quelque chose de complètement nouveau, et prouve qu’il peut encore surprendre. Megalopolis avait beaucoup de potentiel, beaucoup de bonnes idées qui méritaient d’être développées davantage. L’énorme déception pour moi, c’est que le personnage principal a beau avoir le pouvoir d’arrêter le temps, il n’en fait aucun usage. Je pensais que cela aurait eu beaucoup plus de signification ou d’impact sur le développement du film. En l’état, l’ensemble se résume à une critique de la société espérant des lendemains qui chantent, doublée d’un simple drame familial sans grande portée, ce que je trouve vraiment très insuffisant. À la fin du film, je me suis demandé si je ne m’étais pas malencontreusement endormie pendant la projection, si je n’avais pas raté quelque chose... Ou peut-être que je n’ai simplement pas tout compris. [Festival de Cannes 2024]

Ridley Scott et Joaquin Phoenix sont des noms qui suscitent toujours des attentes. Je ne peux pas dire que je me suis ennuyée, car la production et les scènes de champ de bataille sont vraiment captivantes. Mais moins, c’est parfois plus, et Ridley Scott, à son détriment, s’est trop efforcé. Napoléon est un montage surchargé des principales batailles et campagnes de Bonaparte, entrecoupé de scènes « romantiques » avec Joséphine. J’aurais apprécié que le film se concentre davantage sur une ou deux périodes et batailles spécifiques, et surtout qu’il intègre beaucoup plus de psychologie et de politique pour approfondir les personnages, car honnêtement, j’ai trouvé que Napoléon présenté de cette façon était terriblement plat et sans âme, malgré le bon jeu d’acteur habituel de Joaquin Phoenix. J’aurais davantage exploré ses motivations et ses complexes. La relation avec Joséphine est terriblement sous-développée, car d’un côté nous avons des lettres d’amour mutuelles pleines de respect et d’un autre côté, devant la caméra, nous voyons une sorte de relation froide où l’amour et le respect ne sont pas visibles, même depuis un train express lointain. C’est dommage, je pense que le public aurait été beaucoup plus intéressé par une analyse plus profonde du personnage de Napoléon lui-même, par le fait de prendre quelque chose que nous avons vu des centaines de fois et de le présenter d’une manière différente, comme par exemple dans le Joker de Todd Phillips. Je ne vois aucune valeur ajoutée ici. Mais au final, je suis également très intéressée par la « director’s cut », car je viens seulement de me rendre compte que j’ai vu l’actrice française Ludivine Sagnier au générique de début, alors qu’elle ne figure pas du tout dans cette version pour le cinéma. :D Alors, que cache la director’s cut ?