2023-09-07 12:17:20
No stars at the 49th Deauville American Film Festival, but the very adulterated DogMan and two great women’s films.
Photo : DogMan
The 49th Deauville festival exudes a particular scent. Gone are the glitterati and US stars who have made the festival’s reputation since its creation. Thus, Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Peter Dinklage threw in the towel, following the actors’ strike (the Screen Actors Guild, or SAG). In addition, this strike to fight competition from streaming and artificial intelligence has disrupted the calendar and some big blockbusters are missing. And finally, Venice hit very hard this year and succeeded in great takeover bids for Michael Mann, Sofia Coppola, Bradley Cooper, Yórgos Lánthimos and David Fincher that we would have seen in Deauville… Nevertheless, Bruno Barde and his team have concocted a well-made cocktail, composed of US indie films, the majority of which are directed by women, and a few films from Cannes (including our favorite, The Area of Interestby Jonathan Glazer), tributes (to the legend Jerry Schatzberg), French films in preview…
FLIGHT OVER A DOG’S NEST
The big part of the first weekend was unfortunately DogMan by Luc Besson. Unfamiliar with festivals, Besson, 64, began his family seduction operation in Venice, before arriving in Deauville. If we stick to the film (the unfortunate journalists who mentioned Besson’s legal problems in their articles received an email from EuropaCorp, co-signed by a lawyer), we can just say that it is in line with his cinema, namely of sidereal mediocrity and anthological stupidity. It is regarding a child martyr, constantly beaten by his father, then thrown in a cage with dogs. Injured in the spine, as an adult he organizes dog burglaries and sings on weekends in a drag queen cabaret. So much for the scenario… Even if the prodigious Caleb Landry Jones electrifies certain sequences, it’s simply dismaying and to mask the emptiness, Besson resurrects the Disney spirit, then launches into a “best of” of his cinema, if I dare I say, recycling scenes from Nikita or the shooting Léon. As a bonus, the film draws a hollow self-portrait of Besson, namely a rejected, traumatized little boy, who obtains redemption through art, while remaining an isolated and frightened man. But if it remains laughable most of the time, DogMan really makes you feel nauseous when the filmmaker films his hero as a Christ-like figure or when the latter sings, disguised as Edith Piaf, No, nothing. Really, Luke?
« FUCK PIG »
First feature film by a 35-year-old filmmaker Past Lives, nos vies d’avant is of a completely different outfit. The Korean Celine Song tells a simple love story between two twelve-year-old Korean teenagers. They lose touch when Nora’s family emigrates to the United States, reconnect through social networks in their twenties, and meet once more in their thirties, realizing how much they unknowingly missed each other. Without effect, Celine Song tells of wasted lives, sacrificed loves, elective affinities, the impermanence of things. She captures the breath of the wind in the curtains, the sun flooding a room, fingers brushing once morest each other… It’s so beautiful.
Past Lives, nos vies d’avant
A thousand miles from this modest beauty, Joanna Arrrow bares herself, in every sense of the word, in Life According to Ann. In this work of autofiction, she plays a young woman stuck in a depressive daily life, between poor parents and a degrading job. Connected to SM, she indulges in submission games with dominant lovers, disguised as a slut with the inscription “ Fuck Pig » written on the abdomen. Soon, she decides to engage in a more traditional relationship… Actress, screenwriter, editor and director of her film, Joanna Arrrow signs a brilliant BDSM comedy regarding desire and power dynamics. “ A true feminist film », according to its author who carves out a series of sketches that are both funny and/or embarrassing, stretching each sequence to the point of discomfort. It’s funny, unbearable and incredibly moving. The revelation of an insolent talent.
Life According to Ann
DogManreleased September 27
Past Lives, nos vies d’avantreleased December 13
Life According to Annreleased February 14
By Marc Godin
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