Cannes Takeaways 2024

 There's an article in showbiz trade magazine Variety that proposes the five main takeaways so far from Cannes. You can read it here.

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/cannes-takeaways-emilia-perez-apprentice-trump-1236011980/#recipient_hashed=fc18a256c1afca5010e9ab548484a787fb582c16df102cb779e99d5b01358617&recipient_salt=bd43e8c3a47ee8cabdef20bee5bb236764c5842a2f6ceb7f6650c68c093efa19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=filmnews&utm_content=523889_05-21-2024&utm_term=303574

The title of each takeaway says it all, more or less:

Hollywood Movies Fail to Ignite

The main points: George Miller returned with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” ... it didn’t electrify the Palais like “Mad Max: Fury Road” did when it debuted nine years ago. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness” saw the auteur returning to his edgier early style, with diminishing returns. At nearly three hours, the anthology film was divisive: Some hailed its scabrous take on human nature as brilliant, and others derided it as bloated.

“Emilia Pérez” Hits All the Right Notes

"...a Spanish-language musical drama about a Mexican cartel leader who wants to undergo gender-affirming surgery — directed by gritty French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, who has no experience working in the song-and-dance genre..." Since the film is a novelty and Audiard is French and a veteran of the Croisette, it could actually win.

Politics Takes a Back Seat

Unlike some other festivals (notably Berlinale February 2024) there was very little reference - either for or against - the situation in Gaza. And Ukraine? Invisible.

#MeToo Hits Cannes

Pre-Cannes there were warnings of revelations about more celebrities' transgressions. But it's not happening. Shia LeBoeuf and James Franco who have both been accused of sexual misconduct had films doing business in the Market.

The Art of the Donald

In the absence of any real fireworks, the legal acrimony surrounding this film and the conflicts between financier, and the "garbage" appellation from its subject (who hasn't seen the film) has provided at least some life in a festival that usually sags in the second half. The brouhaha only proves the old adage that there is no bad publicity, just publicity and in an election year it takes on an over-sized dimension.

Those are the "takeaways" as seen from a trade magazine writer. But the actual takeaways can be summed up in a couple of bullets:

Bring your own money - we have seen major filmmaker/talents specifically Francis Coppola with "Megalopolis" and Kevin Costner with "Horizon: An American Saga" (two parts with a couple more on the way) financing their own films whether because they have been turned down by studios, or the studio demands are too restrictive, or in their older age these filmmakers have just had enough of being given notes by executives who are young enough to be their grand kids and therefore come from a completely different concept and experience of film. You have to admire Coppola and Costner who are prepared to put their money where their mouths are. This is one of the biggest takeaways of this year's Cannes festival.

Standing Ovations - each report on a film in the official competition includes a reference to the duration of the standing ovation at the end of each film. The duration is taken as a sign of quality whereas it is really only an indicator of relief. 

How so? Most of the audience have struggled to get to Cannes ( transport, accommodation, meals, accreditation all cost) and to get tickets to screenings which is like an on-line endurance test and exercise in frustration. Given that marathon, you are going to be enthusiastic about every film you see. And the longer standing ovation, the more value you seem to have squeezed out of some movie that may not see light of day in your home town. The big takeaway here is: "never mind the quality, feel the width."

There's a great piece on standing ovations in the Guardian from 2023:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/24/cannes-film-festival-standing-ovations