“Stillwater” (Tom McCarthy)
There is usually at least one Cannes screening for more widely known releases that aren’t too far around the corner (see: “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”). This year, an example of that is Tom McCarthy’s “Stillwater,” starring Matt Damon. Damon plays Bill Baker, an Oklahoma oilman who discovers his estranged daughter, Allison (Abigail Breslin), has been falsely charged with murder. This kind of rural/legal drama sounds right up McCarthy’s alley. “Spotlight’s” director was quite the festival darling early in his career, having brought widespread attention to actors Peter Dinklage and Richard Jenkins. His Best Picture Winner propelled him into new public light following its festival rounds, so it’s befitting he returns to the scene with a movie star in tow. – AB
Premiere Screenings
“Cow” (Andrea Arnold)
Sorry, no; “Cow” is not a“First Cow” prequel (although, expect to see a lot of the same “that’s the Cow” pointing meme jokes on your Film Twitter feed), it’s filmmaker Andrea Arnold’s newest project—an intimate documentary spending one day in the life of a dairy cow. Aiming to move audiences closer to considering the plight of innocent farm creatures we mine milk from, “Cow” is not meant to plant seeds of guilt or romanticize the contributions of dairy to our lives, but rather simply recognize the reality of what we owe to animals that we treat as not a lot more than everyday nourishment. Arnold’s first theatrical feature since 2016’s “American Honey,” “Cow” has the potential to be one of 2021’s best documentaries. –AB
“In Front Of Your Face” (Hong Sang-soo)
Returning to the French Riviera for the first time since bringing a pair of features in 2017, the ever-prolific Hong Sang-soo’s latest, “In Front Of Your Face” sounds a little like a companion piece to his previous release “The Woman Who Ran,” (which we reviewed out of last year’s NYFF, and is in select theaters this weekend), following a woman (Hye-young Lee) who has never lived in a high-rise building before, and, after crashing at her sister’s apartment, can’t understand how anyone can live so high off the ground. Being a Hong flick, a creative/filmmaker has to be involved in some capacity, and the woman soon finds herself being asked to join a director’s latest venture. Yup, sounds about as Hong as Hong movies get. Count us in! – AB
“Jan Par Charlotte” (Charlotte Gainsbourg)
It’s interesting to watch a talented performer step behind the camera for the first time. Perhaps best known for her intense work with Lars Von Trier (“Antichrist,” “Nymphomaniac”), Charlotte Gainsbourg makes her directorial debut with the incredibly up-close and personal “Jane Par Charlotte,” a project that appears to have a fair amount in common with something akin to Sarah Polley’s “Stories We Tell.” As Gainsbourg’s own career as an artist began to unexpectedly unfold, she noticed how she had started seeing her mother, Jane Birkin, in a different light. Aiming to overcome a shared barrier that had gone up between them over the course of time, “Jane Par Charlotte” finds a mother and daughter re-examining themselves and their relationship, through the camera lens, together. – AB
“Vortex” (Gaspar Noe)
“Life is a short party that will soon be forgotten.” So reads the synopsis of “Vortex,” filmmaker/provocateur Gaspar Noé’s latest Dario Argento-infused project. Described in Cannes’ press report as “a documentary-style film revolving around the last days of an elderly couple,” (uh oh), the Argentinian auteur went so far as to cast Argento himself in his latest. The seventh movie Noé has premiered at the so-called ‘Olympics of Film,’ between “Irreversible,” “Enter the Void,” and the psychoactive orgy that was “Climax,” a new Gaspar Noé release is almost treated like an event. No matter if the consensus is thumbs up or down, Noé makes movies that make audiences feel things and get people talking about how and why; that’s what festivals like Cannes are all about. – AB
