The success syndrome ofA little something extra, by Artus (more than three million cinema admissions), would it have reached the Critics’ Week jury, chaired this year by producer Sylvie Pialat? It is a film examining the boundaries of disability, Simon de la montañafrom the Argentinian Federico Luis, who won the Grand Prix, Wednesday May 22, at the end of the 63e edition of the Cannes parallel section, dedicated to new talents (first and second films).
At the antipodes of the French comedy of the comedian, present in Cannes the same day to climb the steps with the team of his film, Simon de la Montaña, with its oppressive handheld camera, of the Dogme type – this movement was launched in the 1990s by Lars von Trier -, nevertheless tells a similar trajectory: that of a so-called “normal” boy, who imperceptibly gets closer to a group of young people with disabilities, as if they had decided to leave their world to enter theirs.
Simon (Lorenzo Ferro) goes so far as to work on facial expressions and body language, the filmmaker assuming the disturbing side of the experience, and also raising the question of desire – the film will soon be in theaters, distributed by Arizona. This award is also good news for Argentine cinema, hard hit since the election of anti-system president Javier Milei, who froze numerous aids and subsidies in culture and the cinema sector – a support meeting took place in Cannes , May 19.
Audacity and creativity
Among the seven feature films in competition, let’s highlight some great discoveries, such as Blue Sun Palace, the formally very successful behind closed doors by the American Constance Tsang, chronicling the lives of migrant women, Chinese and Taiwanese, in a massage parlor for men, in Queens, New York. The film received the French Touch Prize from the jury, worth 8,000 euros, which rewards audacity and creativity. Another promising filmmaker, the American-Taiwanese Keff renews the gangster film in Locusta dive into teenage gangs and an ambitious portrait of nihilistic youth.
Certain societal issues were very present this year, all sections combined, and for good reason: violence against women, or the situation of LGBT minorities. Critics’ Week was no exception. These choices obviously deserve respect, but they do not guarantee a successful work. It is the formal devices, the subtlety of the scenarios, the editing, etc., which create the difference.
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