VSlike an air of “I love you… Me neither”. Cannes and pop culture is a bit like the story of a flirtation that is not always assumed. An inconstant romance, made up of things left unsaid, but also sometimes of beautiful memories. From the fantastic closing of the 1982 edition with AND the alien at the remarkable opening with Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, including the Palme d’Or awarded to pulp Fiction in 1994, the festival was able to honor productions for the general public or from the genre, sometimes even in competition. She also knew how to forget them, the list would be too long. However, the time seems to be for reconciliation and the Cannes film landscape is very heterogeneous. The 75and edition, symptomatic of these appeased relations, boasts a vast and enticing choice of mainstream films. Le Point Pop has therefore selected for you seven feature films not to be missed under any circumstances this year. Put on your best sunglasses: the Croisette awaits you!
“Cut! » by Michel Hazanavicius – Out of competition (opening film)
After taking himself for Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) with OSS 117Michel Hazanavicius plays it George A. Romero (Zombie) in Cut!. As you will have understood, the French director has decided to go see what is happening beyond the grave (but not only). Adapted from the Japanese feature film Don’t cut! by Shin’ichirō Ueda, the script revolves around the making of a low-budget, doomed, undead film in which only its director seems to give his heart and soul. Before real supernatural events disrupt everything… The very versatile Romain Duris (Eiffel)accompanied by the always impeccable Bérénice Bejo, wants to be Ash d’evil Dead in an openly twisted comedy that will probably not fail to cause a sensation on the Croisette. The bursts of laughter should rain from the first moments of the Cannes Film Festival, since Cut! will open on the day of its release, May 17, 2022.
“Top Gun Maverick”, by Joseph Kosinski – Out of competition
That we longed not to return there, in this “Danger Zone”… More than a title by Kenny Loggins, the soundtrack of the first Top Gun (1986) sounds like a hymn for the army of nostalgic fans of Tony Scott’s cult feature film and its hair-raising dogfights. Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy), this sequel once again shines the spotlight on the pilot Pete Mitchell, known as “Maverick” (Tom Cruise), in a story as spectacular as it is moving and which is likely to snatch from packed houses as many cries of exaltation as discrete unexpected tears. The project can also count on the welcome support of screenwriter and producer Christopher McQuarrie (Mission Impossible: Fallout), longtime accomplice of Tom Cruise. After an out-of-competition test flight at Cannes, the film will land on our screens on May 25, 2022. We repeat: go for it.
“Elvis”, by Baz Luhrmann – Out of competition
Let’s rock ‘n’ roll! Back behind the camera with great fanfare for Baz Luhrmann, who hadn’t done anything for the big screen since 2013 and the extravagant adventures of Gatsby the magnificent. The Australian filmmaker did not want to take it easy, and is now attacking a musical monument: Elvis Presley. It is therefore the young Austin Butler who will have the difficult task of embodying the “King”, in a story centered on the complex relationship between the singer and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The latter will be embodied by the sacred monster Tom Hanks. The contrast in style promises to be radical. The film, very promising. Screened out of competition, it will land in French theaters on June 22.
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“Three thousand years waiting for you”, by George Miller – Out of competition
When Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba share the poster for a film, which is moreover directed by the great George Miller (Mad Max, Happy Feet), that can only be good, right? It is in any case the bet that takes Three thousand years waiting for you, a kind of fantastico-romantic delirium telling the story of Alithea (Tilda Swinton), a happy woman who is skeptical about the world around her, whose life will be turned upside down by her encounter with a genius. Familiar with fairy tales and the doom that usually surround wishes that are too good to be true, she will end up being tempted by asking him for something… original. A nice pitch for a production that will have the honors of a world premiere at Cannes, without however having those of the competition. All that remains is to hope that the critical reception will be favorable…
“Crimes of the Future” by David Cronenberg – In competition
Already crowned with the jury prize in 1996 for Crash, David Cronenberg returns to Cannes in 2022 with the firm intention of looking (who knows?) a little better. Scheduled for May 25, 2022 in France, The Crimes of the Future can therefore in the first place boast of a renowned author, but also of a high-end cast. On the bill, we find Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings), Léa Seydoux (Dying can wait), or Kristen Stewart (Personal Shopper, Spencer) in a curiously attractive story. Here it will be a question of a futuristic society, where the faculty acquired by man to modify his body as he pleases will be the subject of strange spectacles of organic metamorphoses, all against a background of investigation. A Cronenberg-style scenario, for a film which will also be released on May 25, 2022. At the same time, it will compete for the supreme distinction between May 17 and 28.
“Moonage Daydream”, by Brett Morgen – Midnight screenings
First documentary officially approved by David Bowie’s heirs, Moonage Daydream attempts to paint a portrait of the artist with a thousand faces through countless unpublished archive images. Brett Morgen, already familiar with festivals thanks to the poignant Cobain: Montage of Heck, which had earned him a screening at Sundance and Berlin, therefore offers a new, very personal incursion into the life of an artist. Through never-before-seen performance excerpts, the director promises to show the interpreter of Life on Mars Where heroes as we have never seen. Small peculiarity: the narration accompanying the project will be provided by Bowie himself! More than a simple documentary, its producer Bill Gerber sees in it a real “acoustic and visual spectacle”. Without a release date to date, the film will be screened during midnight screenings. And we are looking forward to it!
“Le Petit Nicolas – What are we waiting for to be happy? », by Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre – Special screenings
No more school for Little Nicolas! In this new film, the character of Sempé and Goscinny gradually leaves the boards of its creators to take over their studio and speak to them. A fascinating exchange of roles then forms, in which the authors confess to their creation about the things of everyday life that have shaped Nicolas’ identity and his adventures. Well beyond yet another adaptation of this flagship of French popular culture, Le Petit Nicolas – What are we waiting for to be happy? therefore seems above all to be a moving dive into the life and spirit of Sempé and Goscinny. It is this great originality in the artistic choices that earned it a broadcast in special screenings, almost five months before its arrival in dark rooms, on October 12th. And with Alain Chabat and Laurent Lafitte in the cast, do we really need to say more to convince?
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“Elvis”, “Top Gun: Maverick”…: popular cinema invites itself to Cannes