Cannes 2022: we saw a film about Malik Oussekine and the Dardenne brothers on their way to a third Palme d’Or

Our Brothers (Cannes Premiere)

Like the Disney+ series, the new film by Rachid BoucharebOur Brothers, returns to the Malik Oussekine affair, but not only… The feature film also tells the tragic death of another young Frenchman of Algerian origin, of whom we have heard less, Abdel Benyahia, shot dead by a plainclothes policeman who was drunk in Pantin.

Rachid Bouchareb therefore chooses to follow two bruised families who have lost a brother at the hands of a repressive, poorly trained police force and under pressure from a Ministry of the Interior which seeks to stifle these blunders and police violence. With these two cases which respond to each other and which terribly echo the news, the filmmaker takes the lice of a year 1986 shaken by the student demonstrations in Paris against the Devaquet reform.

And this cry from the heart of an oppressed youth is felt all the more thanks to the archive images, very present in the film, which are not only used as illustrations but which come to decorate and build a sober story, of a great humanity and imbued with a galvanizing fraternal energy punctuated by sounds of revolt, like Mano Negra and Renaud.

And we can count on the involved performances of its excellent cast: Lyna Khoudri, Reda Kateb, Raphael Personnaz, Samir Guesmilike the two young Lais Salameh and Adam Amarato make this film an important and powerful drama.

Megane Choquet

Tori and Lokita by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (Competition)

Distribution Pyramid

Chance or coincidence? On the day the Cannes Film Festival celebrates its 75th anniversary, Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne make their entry into the running to perhaps mark the history of the event. Because they could become the first directors to win three Palmes d’Or. And it’s Tori and Lokita which would allow them to achieve an unprecedented hat-trick. After the radicalization in Young Ahmadtheir previous opus, they address another social issue: immigration.

Coming from Africa, Tori and Lokita, a young boy and a teenager, together face the harsh conditions of their exile in Belgium, where they have no papers. And are therefore as much at the mercy of the authorities as of crime, like this restaurateur who uses them both to deliver pizzas and drugs. Renowned for their talent when it comes to naturalism, the Dardennes do not disappoint despite a tendency to border on misery, which threatens the story to collapse.

Mixing new amateur and professional actors, the Belgian directors however manage to stay within the framework of their story without losing the heart, the friendship between Tori and Lokita who pretend to be brother and sister, until an end that comes. brutally and could divide the public. And the jury led by Vincent Lindon, a great lover of social cinema of which he is one of the great figures in France? Answer Saturday.

Maximilien Pierrette

Brett Morgen’s Moonage Daydream (Midnight Screenings)

Universal Pictures

It’s no secret that David Bowie changed the world of music. His legacy is present and visible everywhere. In artistic performances, costumes, stage characters… With Moonage Daydream, documentary filmmaker Brett Morgen – already the author of a film on Kurt Cobain – pays homage to his art. More than just a documentary, the feature film is more like a collage, bringing together all of the rock star’s works and inspirations.

In total, the director had access to more than five million archives, images and unpublished drawings. All thanks to the exceptional help of family members. On the screen, it’s fireworks. An avalanche of colors, kaleidoscope effects and sensational montages with, of course, his greatest songs running through the film.

With a giant screen and optimal sound, we sometimes have the impression of being propelled into the heart of one of his concerts. Moonage Daydream will appeal more to David Bowie fans than to neophytes. In a few seconds, the spectator is launched – as in a rocket – in the space universe of Ziggy Stardust. This documentary is not intended to introduce the artist to those who do not know him. It offers a unique exploration into the mind of an immortal genius.

Thomas Desroches

The Silent Twins by Agnieszka Smoczynska (Un Certain Regard)

Protagonist Pictures

Fans of genre cinema had already noticed it thanks to The Lure, a horrifying musical comedy about two siren sisters which had had a small effect in festivals (including Fantasia) before arriving on Netflix. Cannes is today offering Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczynska the opportunity to make herself known to a wider audience, and can also count on the presence at her side of a Marvel star in the person of Letitia Wrightaka Shuri in Black Panther.

Seen recently in Death on the Nile, the actress embodies one of the silent twins of the title of the film, which is inspired by a true story: two sisters who have decided to wall themselves in silence vis-à-vis the world. outside, while inventing a parallel universe where they give free rein to their imagination. Like the director who, from the credits in stop-motion, announces the color and the way in which reality and imagination will confront each other.

Set in 1970s Wales, The Silent Twins tackles several serious topics, including mental illness, with a lot of creativity. But the lack of common thread can lose some viewers. Inspired by the writings and films of the two sisters, the feature film is more like a collage intended to take us into their minds and proves difficult to access even if it touches our hearts intermittently. And especially during this epilogue, magnificent.

Maximilien Pierrette

The Innocent (Out of Competition)

Les Tournelles Films

As in 2021, Louis Garrel is defending three films this year at the Cannes Film Festival, including The Innocent that he realizes. In this dramatic comedy, based on an autobiographical base, Louis Garrel plays Abel, a bruised man who panics at the idea of ​​seeing his mother Sylvie, sixty, about to marry a man in prison, where she gives acting classes.

With the help of his best friend Clémence, he will do everything to protect his mother. Except that meeting Michel, her new father-in-law, will change her life and set her convictions in motion. By mixing family history and detective story, Louis Garrel offers a burlesque contemporary comedy with the soul of a French film from another neat and clever time.

L’Innocent is imbued with great tenderness and an ingenious humor that punctuates each twist in which the actors engage with pleasure in this tasty exercise. We note the delicious performance of Noémie Merlant in this comic register where we would like to see her more often. With this film, Louis Garrel astonishes, has fun, makes fun of and plays with the codes of the theatrical game but never forgets to breathe in sweetness and romance that confront an inevitable social reality.

Megane Choquet

Nostalgia (Official Competition)

Mario Spada

Newcomer in competition at Cannes: mario martone. The 62-year-old Italian filmmaker notably directed Il Giovane Favoloso, in 2015, with Elio Germano. This director is part of the current of modern Neapolitan cinema with Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino.

Here, it is the actor Pierfrancesco Favino, who is of all plans, and really carries this film Nostalgia, centered on this mysterious and taciturn character. We could see Pierfrancesco Favino in The Traitor by Marco Bellochio or even Suburra by Stefano Sollima.

The story of Nostalgia follows Felice, who after 40 years of absence returns to her hometown, Naples. He rediscovers the places, the codes of the city and a past that gnaws at him… Why did he leave? Why is he coming back today? The film takes its time to gradually unveil the secrets of this man. A film that seduces with its nocturnal atmosphere and its languor.

Brigitte Baronet