The 76th Cannes Film Festival begins on Tuesday and is such a massive event that gauging its ups and downs is notoriously tricky. It is a display of the best films from around the world. It’s a red-carpet extravaganza. It’s a bustle of activity on the French Riviera.
But, by some measures, Cannes is back after a cancelled 2020 festival, a much-reduced 2021 edition, and a triumphant 2022 return.
The dazzling Cote d’Azur pageant can feel confident that it has weathered the storms of the epidemic and the supposed threat of streaming when the 76th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry,” a historical drama by Mawenn starring Johnny Depp. (Netflix and Cannes are still at odds.)
Last year’s festival, dubbed “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” and the Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” generated three Oscar best-picture nominees (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” and the Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness”), demonstrating Cannes as the primary worldwide launching pad for pictures big and small.
Blockbuster Premiers
The festival’s marquee premieres this year are Martin Scorsese’s Osage Nation 1920s epic “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring Harrison Ford in his final performance as the character.
But, as spectacular as Cannes might be, even those films hint at the diverse range of movies. Scorsese and Mangold were among the first to arrive in Cannes decades ago to screen their early breakthrough pictures in the Directors Fortnight sidebar. Scorsese with “Mean Streets,” and Mangold with “Heavy.”
This time, however, they’ll be releasing significantly larger films that will surely be the hottest tickets on the Croisette. Scorsese’s $200 million epic is available on Apple TV+. And Mangold will unveil “a more splendiferous project” than his minimalist debut, he claims.
A memorial to Ford will be included in the “Indy” celebration. He and Michael Douglas will receive honorary Palme d’Or. According to Mangold, it’s an opportunity for Ford to capitalise on the franchise’s international fan base. According to the filmmaker, the essence of the “Indiana Jones” films is anchored in golden-age filmmaking.
“These are the things where you’re drawing inspiration from the classics,” Mangold explains. “That’s something that the French really appreciate about American cinema.” In many ways, they revere classic films more than the American public. That makes it a fantastic platform.”