Cannes 2021: The Standouts
Days 1 - 6 of the 74th Cannes Film Festival
by KM, Movie Lightbox
The 2021 Cannes Film Festival at the French Riviera is officially underway and already at its halfway point right now. The initial offerings of the festival provided a renewed focus on filmmakers and world cinema after the 73rd edition was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year, all eyes are on films making their debuts at the different sections of the festivals and the sidebars. Some films in the Competition section already made waves of attention, while praise and emphasis were given to certain films in the Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight.
Here’s the list of films which are clear standouts of the festival so far based on reviews and initial buzz and reactions:
After Yang by Kogonada
Synopsis
When his young daughter's beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) and daughter across a distance he didn't know was there.
The Souvenir Part II by Joanna Hogg
Synopsis
In the aftermath of her tumultuous relationship with a charismatic and manipulative older man, Julie begins to untangle her fraught love for him in making her graduation film, sorting fact from his elaborately constructed fiction. Joanna Hogg’s shimmering story of first love and a young woman’s formative years, The Souvenir Part II is a portrait of the artist that transcends the halting particulars of everyday life — a singular, alchemic mix of memoir and fantasy.
The Worst Person in the World by Joachim Trier
Synopsis
Julie is turning thirty and her life is an existential mess. Several of her talents have gone to waste and her older boyfriend, Aksel - a successful graphic novelist - is pushing for them to settle down. One night, she gatecrashes a party and meets the young and charming Eivind. Before long, she has broken up with Aksel and thrown herself into yet another new relationship, hoping for a new perspective on her life. But she will come to realize that some life choices are already behind her.
Benedetta by Paul Verhoeven
Synopsis
In the late 17th century, with plague ravaging the land, Benedetta Carlini joins the convent in Pescia, Tuscany, as a novice. Capable from an early age of performing miracles, Benedetta's impact on life in the community is immediate and momentous.
Compartment No. 6 by Juho Kuosmanen
Synopsis
A young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a Russian miner, the unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment no. 6 to face the truth about their own yearning for human connection.
Bergman Island by Mia Hansen-Løve
Synopsis
Over the course of one summer, a filmmaker couple settles down to write on the Swedish island of Fårö, where Bergman lived and found inspiration. As their respective scripts progress, they come in contact with the wild landscapes of the place, souvenirs of a first love resurface, and the lines between fiction and reality blur, tearing the couple apart.
The 74th edition of Festival de Cannes runs from July 6 - 17.
Images courtesy of Festival de Cannes and Directors’ Fortnight.