First French Film in Ten Years as Opening Film at Cannes
For the last few years, films starring Hollywood stars such as Grace of Monaco (2014) and Great Gatsby (2013) has opened the Cannes Film Festival every May. The more stars at the festival, the more popular the festival became. Some criticized this phenomenon, saying that it became difficult to come across new discoveries as the festival was too immersed in only drawing attention through its stars. In this respect, this year’s opening film is a choice that shows Cannes’ effort to be reevaluated as a paradigm of film festivals.
The opening film Standing Tall is a small-scaled coming of age film by female French director Emmanuelle Bercot. The film is a human drama where a judge of a juvenile court (Catherine Deneuve) and a passionate social welfare worker (Benoît Magimel) hold the abandoned and enraged juvenile delinquent Malony (Rod Paradot) to his last moments. “My uncle is a social welfare worker. I watched teenagers at a Paris court for teenagers,” Bercot explained. The last French film to be selected for opening at Cannes was Lemming, starring Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg, in 2005.
Thierry Frémaux, director of the festival, expressed his content with the choice of the opening film. This decision can be regarded as the results of the festival’s effort to kick off the festival with a French film at least once in a decade. The director had kept his word about shifting the festival’s focus back to works from stars.
Opening Film by a Female Director in 28 Years
Standing Tall is the first film by a female director selected for the opening for the festival after 28 years since A Man in Love, a Diane Kurys film in 1987. Many reporters tenaciously asked Bercot what crossed her mind as the first film by a female director in 28 years. She said, “Are genders so important?” But it is true that the social film, which was directed by an actress-turned-director, satisfied the needs of Cannes Film Festival in many aspects. Bercot picked up the Jury Prize for her short film in 1997. In 2001, her debut feature Clement was invited to the Un Certain Regard section in 2001.
Not to mention, actor Rod Paradot is another face to follow just like Antoine Olivier Pilon from Mommy, which took home the Jury Prize last year. Paradot repeatedly said, “I feel honored for everything,” with a shy smile at a press conference. The two characters Paradot and Pilon played are similar in nature they are obsessed with their mothers and strongly desire to be loved. One can expect this attractive young actor to be in many more films before long.
“Mad Max: Fury Road would have been the opening film if the festival had been held like the past,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter, who in charge of the dailies for the festival. This makes it seem highly likely for a Hollywood blockbuster to hit the festival as its opening film next year. Mad Max: Fury Road which George Miller, the director of the original returned with, will flow into Cannes to compete with Irrational Man directed by Woody Allen, Inside Out, a new Disney animation and the animation Le Petit Prince, all in the non-competition section.
Cannes=NA Won-jung
