Day 5: RFK Jr. & the Dr.: Doc Seeks Buyer; Linklater's Godard Pic CharmsPlus: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson and that pesky comma
Director Richard Linklater faced a big question as he walked the red carpet at Cannes’ Grand Theatre Lumière, where his latest film Nouvelle Vague was about to debut on Saturday night. The black-and-white movie, shot largely in French, scrupulously documents the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 breakthrough Breathless (À Bout de Souffle), starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a small-time criminal and Jean Seberg as the American free spirit he meets on the streets of Paris. But would the black-tie cinéastes waiting to pass judgement on the film applaud the 64-year-old Houston-born, Austin-based filmmaker as a dedicated auteur paying respectful homage to one of cinema’s greats — or boo him for a hubristic act of cultural appropriation? As he entered the auditorium, Linklater was joined by Quentin Tarantino, who came along to provide moral support. Linklater needn’t have worried. Early on in Nouvelle Vague, Godard (played by Guillaume Marbeck), fretting over the fact that unlike his fellow Cahiers du Cinema critics he’s yet to direct a feature film, travels to the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, where his friend François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows is earning raves. The Palais crowd received Linklater’s new film just as enthusiastically. As he was handed a mike for his reaction, he exclaimed, “Cinema is magic.”
The next day, at the film’s official press conference, Linklater explained that his goal was “to make the audience feel like they were hanging out with the Nouvelle Vague (the so-called New Wave of filmmakers) in 1959.” The director — whose own extensive filmography ranges from early indies like 1990’s Slacker and 1993’s Dazed and Confused to the romantic trilogy that began with 1995’s Before Sunrise to the decade-in-the-making experiment of 2014’s Boyhood — said that he had been tossing around the idea for this new film for more than 13 years. Finally, he decided, “If you do it long enough, you should make one film about making a film.” And because Breathless was such a seminal movie — it broke so many rules, like introducing a jazzy, jump-cutting editing style that would revolutionize movie-making — it was the ideal movie for the Austin, Texas auteur to tackle. Godard’s death in 2022 only furthered Linklater’s resolve to focus in on the making of Breathless. That in turn led to a couple of years of meticulous research. The movie’s list of characters is like a who’s who of iconic directors — from Roberto Rossellini to Claude Chabrol. Its Paris locations recreate famous haunts like the crowded Cahiers du Cinema offices. And even its dance moves reflect the period dances in movies by Godard and Truffaut. Some of the financing for the film — which is currently seeking distribution — came from Chanel, which also created several of the costumes for Zoey Deutch’s Seberg. But he was not making a period piece, Linklater repeatedly told his actors — all relative unknowns with the exception of Deutch, who appeared in Linklater’s 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!!. He wanted his cast to forget they were making a movie about the towering filmmaking presence that came to be known as Godard and instead treat him like a young guy named Jean-Luc: In a note to the actors, he explained, “he’s a first-time director. You’re having fun shooting with him, but you’re wondering if this film will ever be released.” Linklater drew on his own early years behind the camera, he said, adding, “I was trying to capture that exuberance and insecurity.” The movie’s French dialogue didn’t faze him either, he insisted. “To me the French language is the language of cinema,” he said. “It sounds beautiful for a film that looks like this. To me, it’s another color of the palette.” At the presser, when one journalist gushed, “Thank you for the audacity to bring the film to Cannes,” Linklater admitted that over the years, he’d had some qualms. “They’ll hate an American for doing this,” he imagined. “They will never show the film in France.” But Michèle Pétin, one of the movie’s producers, noted that a French filmmaker might not have had the perspective the movie required, saying, “Only an American could have achieved this feat.” —GK
Claire’s Croisette: Controversy, a Condor, a Comma
Robert Kennedy Jr. is featured in a controversial new film that centers on the ills of the pharma business and the risks of diet-related diseases. The doc Pharmageddon is searching for funding at the Cannes Film Festival, and one of its producers, British cardiologist and health activist Dr. Aseem Malhotra, told me on Saturday that he is headed to the White House in the next few weeks to meet President Trump and share his message on how to counteract the power of big drug companies. Health & Human Services Sec. Kennedy meanwhile is expected to make some big waves with his “Make America Healthy Again” report, set for May 22. Malhotra spoke on Saturday night at a cocktail event at the Carlton Hotel about his motivation to wean the world from medications he deems unnecessary and get people to embrace such practices as meditation instead. “What doctors are prescribing is based on bias and corrupted information,” said Malhotra, whose journey to filmmaking got started when his father, a doctor, died waiting for an ambulance in Britain. Malhotra believes the Covid vaccine contributed to his father’s death. His views on the Covid vaccine, his anti-statin stance and his dietary recommendations (he has attacked the standard advice that recommends avoiding saturated fat consumption to reduce heart disease risk) have drawn wide criticism from the British Heart Foundation and other major health organizations. “We have a pandemic of misinformed doctors and misinformed and unwittingly harmed patients,” he said, asserting that drugs are prescribed based on profits first. Malhotra, who shared an allegation that Coca-Cola had contracts with hospitals in order to offer soda to patients at their bedsides. “Medical knowledge is under commercial control,” he warned. “The benefits of all the drugs are grossly exaggerated.” The movie he’s shopping is an update of a doc Malhotra released online last year, First do No Pharm, made with documentary maker Donal O’Neill, who specializes in alternative theories around medicine. O’Neill concluded the event sharing, “The last few years have seen all of my work censored. Pharmageddon is our attempt to get back up and get going. I would just ask you if you can give us wings, please do. Hollywood, I think, is ready to turn the page. I was in Washington last week, we walked out to the White House. They are ready to take the next steps, and we are ready to follow the scene with the new administration.” Other Dispatches– Birdman
“Cannes is back. The vibe has been really good and the journalists have been really happy with the quality of the films. There aren’t really any duds,” declares Charles McDonald, a veteran publicist with PR firm International Rescue, which has multiple movies here including Amrum, and Pale View of Hills. McDonald, whose job involves not just working as a press attaché but pleading with officials over protocols limiting the number of cars that take talent over to the red carpet, joked about the dress code not being adhered to when a man dressed as a giant condor showed up on the red carpet Saturday night at the Die, My Love screening. Turns out the guy was there to promote Raphaël Quenard’s documentary I Love Peru, which premiered today in the Cannes Classics section. The costumed crasher wasn’t the only interloper, though. McDonald said he had words with a young man on the red carpet who had nothing to do with the movie but was there to get photographed — if not with the cast, then close to them. “There’s such desperation,” McDonald said, adding with some sympathy, “If you’re an actor it’s what you have to do.” – Comma Drama Call it “comma chameleon.” Director Lynne Ramsay’s drama about a depressed new mom starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson is gathering attention among the Cannes press pack, but not for the reasons you’d think. The title, Die, My Love (based on the 2019 novel by Ariana Harwicz), comes with its own mystery. Should there be a comma after the word die or not? The Cannes Film Festival has it both ways on their website, and the official press release tried to cover its bases by using both a comma and no comma in references. Copy desks have been scratching their heads and spending hours trying to get to the bottom of it. A debate among non-English speaking festival goers ensued over how the comma might change the meaning of the title, if at all. Ramsay’s PR confirmed to me there is indeed a comma. That’s settled, my love. — CA
NewsInaugural Doha Film Festival Sets DatesIt will offer $300,000 in prize money. → Click here to keep reading Asian Buyers at Market UpbeatThey are happy with the quality of films on offer. → Click here to keep reading
DealsJack Davenport to Star in Blueberry InnSonia Guggenheim is directing the satirical comedy. → Click here to keep reading Dominic West Joins Call Me QueenHe’ll play a journalist in Kenya in Emily Atef’s English-language debut. → Click here to keep reading CJ Beckford to Lead Romantic Comedy Arthur & ClaraHe’ll join Mirren Mack in Kieran Bourne’s directorial debut. → Click here to keep reading
ReviewsJennifer Lawrence Lights Up Die, My LoveLynne Ramsay’s film unsparingly dramatizes postpartum depression. → Click here to keep reading Nouvelle Vague Recounts the Making of BreathlessCritic Lee Marshall calls it “an affectionate homage.” → Click here to keep reading George Orwell Examined in Orwell: 2+2=5Raoul Peck connects the 1984 author to the present day. → Click here to keep reading Love Letters Looks at Lesbian ParenthoodAlice Douard’s debut feature exhibits “tender compassion.” → Click here to keep reading
FeaturesSouth Africa Is Open for BusinessNew studio facilities are being planned. → Click here to keep reading
Today’s Screen Jury at CannesThe long-running Screen International Jury Grid is a critical ranking of competition films in Cannes, according to an assembled jury of 12 international film critics, including Screen's reviewers (four stars is the top rating). Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague landed with the third-highest score out of the nine contending films so far, while Die, My Love received widely mixed scores, with Le Monde’s Mathieu Macheret giving it zero stars. → Click here for the full grid.
The Ankler x Screen International's Cannes DailyDay 1: ‘Art Is a Threat’ as Oscar Race, the Resistance, Begin Day 2: 'Prices are Crazy'; Cruise ❤️ Day 3: KStew Debut; IMAX CEO on Nolan; Screen Jury Grid Starts! Day 4: Eddington Divide; Fashion's Film Dollars; $6K Tix Black Market
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